72 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th See. 



I wish to make cordial acknowledgment for helpful sug- 

 gestions and criticism to Messrs. E. W. Nelson, T. S. Palmer, 

 and Edward A. Preble of the United States Biological Sur- 

 vey. For access to the collections in their charge, the loan of 

 material, or for other courtesies I am indebted to Dr. Joseph 

 Grinnell, Director of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 

 University of California; Mr. Gerrit S. Miller, Jr., Curator of 

 Mammals, United States National Museum, and Mr. Samuel 

 Henshaw, Director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 

 Harvard University, as well as to Dr. Glover M. Allen, secre- 

 tary of the Boston Society of Natural History. Mr. Vernon 

 Bailey, Major Edward A. Goldman, and Dr. Hartley H. T. 

 Jackson, of the Biological Survey, very kindly assisted in the 

 identification of certain specimens. For information regard- 

 ing the life and scientific activities of Dr. Cooper I am in- 

 debted to Dr. William H. Dall, of the U. S. National Mu- 

 seum, Washington, D. C. ; Mr. James S. Cooper, of Oakland, 

 California, and to Mr. W. Otto Emerson, Hayward, Califor- 

 nia. For valued advice in connection with the paper and for 

 critical reading of the manuscript I am under obligation to 

 Dr. Barton Warren Evermann, Director of the Museum, Cali- 

 fornia Academy of Sciences. 



Historical Notes 



James Graham Cooper was born June 19, 1830, in New 

 York City. His father, William Cooper (1798-1864) was 

 one of the most prominent of the earlier New York natural- 

 ists, having been an "Original Member" of the New York 

 Lyceum of Natural History, now the New York Academy of 

 Sciences, and an active scientific worker throughout his life. 

 James G. Cooper graduated from the College of Physicians 

 and Surgeons in 1851, spending the two years following in 

 the hospitals of New York. The most active period of his 

 life as a field naturalist was embraced in the 13 years from 

 1853 to 1866. It began on April 27, 1853, when he signed 

 a contract with Governor Isaac I. Stevens, of Washington 

 Territory, to act as one of the physicians to the Pacific Rail- 

 road Survey Expedition, which was detailed to explore the 

 route along the Forty-seventh and Forty-ninth parallels; it 



