510 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 378. 



FELIS OREGONENSIS EAF. AGAIN ! 



In his recent 'Revision of the Pumas' 

 {Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci, pp. 577-600), Dr. 

 C. Hart Merriam devotes over a page to the 

 inapplicability of the above name and to cen- 

 suring my action in bringing it forward to 

 replace F. hippolestes olympus given by him- 

 self in 1897. He states that it is a 'fallacious 

 interpretation of our principles of nomen- 

 clature' to replace a name well characterized 

 and accompanied by definite type and locality, 

 by an older one deficient in these respects. 

 This statement will, I think, be questioned 

 by many zoologists who have erred in this way 

 more than I. 



Personally, I would be only too glad to 

 throw out of consideration all the names pro- 

 posed by Rafinesque and others of his time, 

 as it would save us a deal of trouble, but if 

 we recognize the principles of priority I see 

 no excuse for such action, and such questions 

 as the present one resolve themselves entirely 

 into a consideration of the applicability of 

 the older name. 



This is largely a matter of individual opin- 

 ion and in the absence of any tribunal for the 

 consideration of a uniform nomenclature for 

 our mammals individual preference will pre- 

 vail. However a few words regarding Dr. 

 Merriam's stand may not be out of place. 



In Rafinesque's first paper he undoubtedly 

 has in mind the Felis concolor group, that will 

 be admitted on all hands. 



In his second paper he names a variety of 

 the puma (as mentioned in the first paper) 

 from northwestern United States (Oregon by 

 implication). The absence of a definite type 

 locality in no way invalidates the name if 

 otherwise satisfactorily diagnosed. We have 

 many names now in use with just as vague 

 type localities. 



The description is very brief, but as good as 

 many other early diagnoses and to my mind 

 clearly indicates the same animal later char- 

 acterized by Dr. Merriam. Moreover, I do 

 not think it is 'grossly incorrect.' 



Rafinesque says 'Dark brown, nearly black 

 on the back, belly white.' 



Dr. Merriam says 'Dark rufous brown, dark- 

 est along middle of back, backs of ears black. 



tip of tail blackish, breast and inguinal 

 region soiled whitish, anterior part of throat 

 white.' 



Rafinesque had no 'manual of colors' and 

 was of course not as exact as our present-day 

 systematists, but it seems to me that his 

 description is sufficiently accurate. 



As to Dr. Merriam's argument that he 

 probably never saw a specimen of the animal, 

 we have positively no evidence one way or 

 the other, and the fact does not affect the 

 validity of the name nor do Dr. Merriam's 

 further remarks about the other unrecognized 

 cats that Rafinesque speaks of. The descrip- 

 tions of Oervus macrourus and C. hemionus of 

 the same author which are recognized and 

 adopted by Dr. Merriam are associated with 

 a lot of unidentifiable descriptions, and are 

 admittedly based upon descriptions of trav- 

 elers, while the diagnoses are no better than 

 that of Felis oregonensis. If one stands, so 

 should the others, in my estimation. 



I might add that, so far as I am aware, every 

 one who has written on this puma since my 

 note appeared in Science has followed my 

 views, even Dr. Merriam himself, who adopted 

 the name oregonensis without comment, in his 

 'Biological Survey of Mt. Shasta' (p. 104). 



As to the statement that no name based 

 on hearsay accounts of travelers would be 

 accepted if published to-day, we might suggest 

 some recent cases that come pretty near to 

 this, such as Equus johnsoni, which was based 

 upon hearsay accounts of native Africans and 

 two strips of skin, and Macrias amissus (Sci- 

 ence, December 13), on a photograph and 

 regretful recollections of a fish that was lost 

 overboard after having been captured! 



WiTMEK Stone. 



Academy of Natukal Sciences, 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



A veky sensitive thermostat. 

 For many forms of scientific investigation 

 constancy of temperature is required. Such 

 constancy may be secured, within a few hun- 

 dredths of a degree, by several types of ther- 

 mostat. For certain inquiries undertaken by 

 the writer relative to the so-called 'critical' 

 Ijhenomena of liquids and gases, a much 

 greater degree of accuracy was necessary. 



