Januaey 7, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



31 



jection of Odobsenus, Glia* and others. If all 

 had been rejected his course would have had 

 the merit of consistency and would be defen- 

 sible. The generic name Trichechus is erronously 

 applied to the Walrus instead of the Manatee. 



Dr. Trouesaart is a most diligent searcher of 

 the literature and Is to be congratulated on the 

 freedom of his catalogue from omissions. Most 

 of the errors here pointed out are such as are 

 bound to creep in in an undertaking of this 

 character and magnitude, and the reviewer 

 wishes it understood that in calling attention to 

 them he has not done so in a spirit of criticism, 

 but for the purpose of rendering the work more 

 useful. 



The authority for the generic name Bassaris- 

 cus is Cones, 1887, not ' Ehoads, 1894.' The 

 genus Wagneria Jentink, 1886, cannot stand. 

 It is not only the same as Sassariscus, but is pre- 

 occupied. 



Thalassaretos Gray, 1825, is antedated by 

 Thalarctoa of the same author and based on the 

 same animal. 



Lyneus Gray, 1825 (first printed Lynceus 

 by Gray in 1821), is antedated by Lynx Kerr, 

 1792. 



The name Ictis Kaup, adopted for a sub- 

 genus of Weasels, is preoccupied by Ictis Schinz) 

 1824, for which reason Arctogale Kaup will have 

 to stand for the Weasels. This I have already 

 published in Science (Vol. V., p. 302, Feb. 19, 

 1897); and since Arctogale Peters, 1864, is pre- 

 occupied by Arctogale Kaup, 1829, I proposed 

 the new name Arctogalidia for the palm civets, 

 of which Viverra trivirgata is the type (see 

 Science as above). 



Ursus piscator Pncherav, 1855, and U. heringi- 

 ana Middendorflf, 1851, given as forms of U. 

 arctos, are based on the same animal. 



Ursus emmonsi Dall, given as a ' variety ' of 

 U. americanus, is certainly a most distinct spe- 

 cies. 



* In the case of Glis it is stated in a footnote that 

 the genus cannot be admitted because Linnseus had 

 previously instituted the order Glires, and because 

 Brisson did not use binomial nomenclature. The 

 first reason is trivial and not in accord vpith any code 

 of nomenclature ; the second, if considered a valid ob- 

 jection by the author, should have caused him to re- 

 ject Sydrochosrus also. 



A moat unfortunate slip is the reintroduction 

 of Peale's generic name Cricetodipus (a synonym 

 of Perognathus) for the Kangaroo rats of the 

 genus Perodipus, in accordance with an ill-ad- 

 vised suggestion from Mr. Ehoads. But Mr. 

 Rhoada carefully abstained from giving Peale's 

 measurements of his type specimen, which 

 prove beyond question that the animal could 

 not have been a Kangaroo rat. The hind foot 

 measured ' /^ inch ' — a trifle less than 20.5 mm., 

 which agrees with young specimens of Perogna- 

 thus from the plains of the Columbia, in Oregon 

 and Washington. A nursing young Kangaroo 

 rat {Perodipus columbianua), from the same re- 

 gion, has a hind foot measuring 36 mm. and a 

 total length more than double that given by 

 Peale for his Cricetodipus. 



Among the 12 Kangaroo rats of the genus 

 Dipodomys given full specific rank, one (similis) 

 is a synonym (of simiolus) and three {ambiguus, 

 simiolus and parvus) are subspecies (of merriami 

 Mearns). In the sequence given, these sub- 

 species are not only accorded specific rank, but 

 with one exception are removed from the forms 

 to which they are most closely related and 

 placed after members of widely different groups. 

 Similarly, the large Dipodomys spectabilis, with 

 its long tail-brush of pure white, is separated 

 from its nearest ally, D. deserti, by a group of 

 small dark-tailed forms. 



Under the genus Peromyscus, comprising the 

 American white-footed mice, the mixture of 

 species and subspecies fairly takes one's breath 

 away. The same is true in less degree of 

 Microtus and of numerous other genera through- 

 out the Catalogue. 



Sciuropterus volans is given as the name of the 

 European Flying Squirrel and S. voluncella as 

 that of the American. This, while in accord- 

 ance with former usage, is unfortunate since the 

 Mus volans of Linnseus, 1766, is the Flying Squir- 

 rel of Virginia, as shown by Jordan and Bangs. 



Under Sciurus douglasi five synonyms are 

 raised to the rank of ' varieties.' 



Under Sciurus aberti, 8. castanotus [= castano- 

 notus~\ Baird and S. durangi Thomas are given 

 as subspecies. The former is a synonym ; the 

 latter a distinct species. 



Under Sciurus arizonensis are included as sub- 

 species the hardly distinct huachuca of Allen 



