274 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
sylvanicus, meadow mouse), A7vicola oneida ( =Microtus pennsylvanicus, 
meadow mouse), and A. alborufescens (=Evotomys gapperi, common 
red-backed mouse), prove to have been founded on insufficient charac- 
ters. One species (Microtus pinetorum scalopsoides, northern pine 
mouse) described by Audubon and Bachman in 1841 from specimens 
taken on Long Island, De Kay omits. Therefore the total number of 
known New York mammals in 1842 was 56. 
During the 40 years immediately following the publication of De meee s 
work, the list of New York mammals received only three additions: 
Neotoma pennsylvanica, cave rat, recorded by Baird im 1857 under the 
specific name floridana, Farascalops breweri, hairy-tailed mole, recorded 
by Baird in 1865 under the name Scalops brewert and Afyous subulatus, 
Say’s bat, recorded by H. Allen in 1863, and for the first time dis- 
tinguished from JZ. Zucifugus, little brown bat ( =the Vespertilio subulatus 
of De Kay). It is possible that the supposed occurrence of the opossum 
was confirmed during this period; but I have been unable to determine 
when the first definite record of this animal as an inhabitant of New York 
was published. Most of the eliminations to which I have referred were, 
however, made during this period by Baird, Coues and J. A. Allen. 
From 1842 to 1882 there appeared no important paper dealing specially 
with the mammals of New York, a clear indication that the stability of 
the list during this time resulted from lack of interest in the subject 
rather than from fulness of knowledge. 
After De Kay, the first writer to deal extensively with the mammals of 
New York was Dr C. Hart Merriam, who issued two volumes on the 
mammals of the Adirondack region in 1882 and 1884. At about the 
same time he published several short special papers which, together with 
the volumes just mentioned, give the results of 15 years’ field work in 
northern New York. It is not surprising therefore to find recorded in 
this short period as many additions to the mammalian fauna of the state 
as were made during the preceding 4o years. ‘The species added to 
the New York list by Merriam at this time are: Sciuropterus sabrinus 
macrotis,' Canadian flying squirrel (84d, p. 108) Sorex fumeus,? smoky 
shrew (’84d, p. 77), and Zamias striatus lystert, northeastern chipmunk 
(86, p. 242). This number appears small in view of the fact that more 
than twice as many species have since been added to the New York list 
from the Adirondack region alone. It is, however, a good illustration 
of the futility of even the most determined efforts, unaided by the 
methods of collecting afterward perfected chiefly by Dr Merriam himself. 
1 Recorded as S. volucella hudsonica. 
2 Recorded as S. platyrhinus. 
