490 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. No. 41. 



the same muscle to a descendiug^current of the 

 same character, the intensity of which, like 

 the first, shall be the least perceptible. If 

 the intensity of this latter current proves 

 to be inferior to that of the former, the in 

 ference is that the muscular mass experimented 

 upon is enervated. The greater the differ- 

 ence between the two degrees of inteusitj^, the 

 more serious will be the state of mviscular ener- 

 vation. 



The great question for physiologists to answer 

 now is : By what means are we to realize the 

 full measure of muscular capacity in man and 

 beast ? The problem is in their hands, and the 

 merit of MM. Mosso and Wedensky is that they 

 have succeeded in studying experimentally 

 some of the questions so deeply interesting to 

 those; engaged in this work. 



Chaklbs Henry. 



Pabis. 



List of Mammals collected in the Black Hills Re- 

 gion of South Dakota and in Tl^estern Kansas 

 by W. W. Changer, with field notes by the col- 

 lector. By J. A. Allen. Bull. American Mu- 

 seum Nat. Hist., Vol. VII., pp. 259-274, Aug. 

 21, 1895. 



The Black Hills region is one of more than 

 ordinary interest to the naturalist, and it has 

 received its full share of attention. Perhaps 

 no area of equal size in the United States has 

 been more closely studied by geologists and 

 paleontologists, and it has been visited more 

 than once by zoologists and botanists. 



The special interest attaching to the Black 

 Hills, from the standpoint of the living fauna 

 and flora, centers in the fact that it is the east- 

 ernmost of the outlying boreal islands belong- 

 ing in a general way to the Rocky Mountain 

 region.. This was clearly indicated by the first 

 report on its mammals and birds, published by 

 Geo. Bird Griunell in 1875. Since then it has 

 been visited three times by the experienced 

 mammal collector, Sir. Vernon Bailey, but the 

 results of his labors have not yet been published. 

 The present paper by Dr. Allen, based on a col- 

 lection made by Walter W. Granger in 1891, is 

 therefore the first enumeration of the mammals 

 of the region since modern methods of trapping 

 came into vogue. 



Three life zones — Boreal, Transition and Upper 

 Sonoran — are embraced in the area covered by 

 the report, though this important fact is not rec- 

 ognized by the author. The higher parts of the 

 Black Hills are Boreal; the lower slopes, em- 

 bracing most of the pine forest, are Transition ; 

 the adjacent ' bad lands ' south of the Cheyenne 

 River are Upper Sonoran. The Boreal element 

 is completely isolated, being separated by a 

 wide interval from the nearest laud of sufiBcieut 

 elevation to sujiport a similar fauna and flora. 

 The folldwing Boreal species occur in the Black 

 Hills : Microtus longicaudus, Evotomys g. brevi- 

 caudus, Peromyscus I. arcticus, Neotoma cinerea 

 {=:'■ grangeri''~\. Sciurus h. dakotensis, Arctomys 

 dakota, Sorex personatua [recorded as forsteri] , 

 Tamias Jf-vit. borealis and Zapus. The Transi- 

 tion element covers the greater part of the hills, 

 and stretches uninterruptedly northward east 

 of the Little Missouri River. It is inhabited by 

 Lepus cainpestris, Onychomys leiicogaster, Neo- 

 toma rupicola, Peromyscus nebrasceiisis and Mi- 

 crotus austerus haydeni. The Upper Sonoran 

 element finds its northern limit near the Chey- 

 enne River, on the east side of the Hills, but 

 pushes farther north on the west side. It intro- 

 duces several species (Geomys hitescens, Perogna- 

 thus paradoxus, Perodipus richardsoni, Corynorhi- 

 nu9 ' townsendi ' and a few others) not •occurring 

 elsewhere in the region. 



Dr. Allen describes a new cottontail (Lepus 

 sylvaticiis granger!) from the higher parts of the 

 Black Hills, and in a previous paper named as 

 new several other mammals collected by Mr. 

 Granger. It is stated that the Gray Pocket 

 Gopher ( r/iomomj/s talpoides) " is found not only 

 in the prairie country at the base of the Black 

 Hills, but in the small parks in the Black Hills, 

 at an altitvide of 5500 ft.'' Specimens collected 

 in the higher parts of the Black Hills by Mr. 

 Bailey are not the same as those from the sur- 

 rounding low country. 



In all, 53 species are enumerated, with more 

 or less full annotations. The specific name of 

 the Black-tail deer is carried back from macrotis 

 Say (1823) to hemionus Rafinesque (1817). 



The list as a whole is a welcome addition to 

 our local knowledge of the mammals of a small 

 but interesting area. 



C. H. M. 



