214 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. J 90'. 



are about 750 types and illustrated speci- 

 mens in the collection. 



Eecently Mr. Lacoe has presented the 

 balance of his splendid collections, consist- 

 ing chiefly of fossil insects. The liberality 

 of the gift is as unfettered with conditions 

 as its value is great. The collection is to 

 be known as the ' Lacoe Collection,' and 

 the only stipulation is " that it be accessible 

 to scientists and students without distinc- 

 tion, provision being made for the proper 

 pi-eservatiou of the specimens from loss or 

 injury." 



Of the 182 described species of ITorth 

 American Paleozoic insects about two- 

 thirds are represented in the ' Lacoe Col- 

 lection ' by the type specimens, besides 

 many figured supplementary types. Of 

 arachnids there are 62 specimens (14 

 types), myriapodsQl: specimens (41 tj^pes), 

 and insects 461 specimens, of which 116 

 species are described (136 types) ; about 

 300 specimens are unstudied. There is but 

 one other Paleozoic collection equalling or 

 exceeding in specimens the Lacoe Collection, 

 namely, that from the coal fields of Com- 

 mentry, France. 



Of Tertiary insects from Florissant, Col- 

 orado, several hundred unstudied speci- 

 mens and six described species are present, 

 including a butterfly, one of the rarest of 

 fossil insects. From the Tertiary of 

 Oeningen, in Baden, there are about 3,500 

 specimens, of which about one-half (includ- 

 ing about 428 species) have been studied 

 by Mr. Samuel H. Scudder. Eegarding 

 this part of the Lacoe Collection Mr. Scud- 

 der writes (Geol. Mag. Dec. IV., Vol. II., 

 1895, pp. 116-122) : " I have examined 

 with some care his large collection of fossil 

 insects from Oeningen, larger, perhaps, 

 than any outside of Zurich, for it consists 

 of about 3,500 specimens, of which fully 

 one-half may be made use of to advantage. 



" The 428 species which I have separated 

 in Mr. Lacoe's collection are divided among 



the orders as follows : Orthoptera 8, ISTeu- 

 roptera 13, Hemiptera 57, Coleoptera 294,. 

 Diptera 17, Hymenoptera 39." From the 

 Mesozoic and Cenozoic of Great Britain 

 there are about 250 specimens. 



Of Crustacea there are about 170 speci- 

 mens, of which 11 are types or figured 

 specimens. Of fishes and reptiles there are 

 some 300 specimens, about half of which 

 were labeled or described by the late Pro- 

 fessor Cope. 



Mr. Lacoe intends to continue his interest 

 in the increase and study of ' The Lacoe 

 Collection.' With the numerous Tertiary 

 insects from the Western States gathered by 

 the United States Geological Survey and 

 studied or to be studied by Mr. Scudder, the 

 United States National Museum will have 

 one of the most comprehensive collections 

 of fossil insects extant. 



Dr. Goode's appreciative words regarding 

 the plant collection are also applicable to 

 the insect collection : " The acquisition of 

 this wealth of material makes the National 

 Museum an important reference center for 

 all future comprehensive work in this field. 

 The Lacoe Collection is a noble monument 

 to the public spirit and generous enthu- 

 siasm of its founder." 



A NEW NAME FOB THE GEORGIA OLD FIELD- 

 310 USE. 



In my ' Land Mammals of Peninsular 

 Florida and the Coast Eegion of Georgia,' 

 (Proc. Boston Soc. of Nat. Hist., Vol. 28,. 

 No. 7, pp. 202-203, March, 1898), I de- 

 scribed under the name ' Feromyseus sub- 

 griseus ai'enarius,' the dark-colored form of 

 the old field mouse found by Mr. W. W. 

 Brown, Jr., on the sand hills about Hui's- 

 man's Lake (Savannah River), near Bas- 

 com, Scriven Co., Georgia. After my man- 

 uscript had been turned in I noticed that 

 I had used a name already given to a Pero- 

 7nyscus by Dr. E. A. Mearns. (The Fero- 

 myseus eremicus eremicus Mearns, Proc. U. S. 



