782 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 205. 



these structures^on his species A. binucJeata 

 in Germany. But the host form in this 

 country, according to Leidy's observations 

 and my own, is A. proteus. As Mr. Wood- 

 ward suggests, this fact of itself creates a 

 presuinption of the fungoid nature of the 

 filaments. 



I). The occurrence of the form at a limited 

 season of the year is in keeping with the 

 plant nature of the filaments. While one 

 of the specimens of Mr. Archer appears to 

 be an exception, all the others were found, 

 , I infer, in the early part of the year, from 

 January to May. My own were taken in 

 February or March of three successive years. 

 The same locality was searched for them 

 at other seasons in vain, though uninfested 

 Amceboi were found. 



c. The hj'phae take no part in the move- 

 ments of Amceba. If they bend or diverge, 

 such movements are entirely passive, being 

 due to contractions of the protoplasm to 

 ■which their bases are attached. This is 

 the explanation of what Archer interpreted 

 as the creature's power of bending and 

 quickly again erecting the filament at the 

 point of constriction.* All observers agree 

 that they are non- retractile. Cf. Fig. 7, a 

 and b. 



d. The progressive development of a 

 single tuft is sufficient of itself to establish 

 the main point of the thesis. It is clearly 

 indicated in Figs. 8, 9 and 10, w^hich are 

 three of a series of five drawings represent- 

 ing as many stages of development of the 

 same cluster. The fourth and fifth are not 

 shown. Mr. Woodward tells me that after 

 the first week the cluster of filaments be- 

 came too complicated in its branching to 

 draw, " although they always retained their 

 original character of springing from a basal 

 U-shaped filament and not branching near 

 the distal extremities." Furthermore, Mr. 

 Woodward observed on the same slide with 

 this large specimen a number of small ones 



* Quar. Journ. 3Iicr. Soc: 6, 190. 



which " only after a week were found to 

 possess any filaments." 



An interesting inquiry remains to be 

 made into the life history and relationships 

 of the fungus itself, but upon that inquiry 

 I cannot enter now. 



Wm. L. Poteat. 



"Wake Forest College, N. C. 



NEW NAMES FOR SPEEMOPHILUS BBEVI- 



CAUDUS, CANJS PALLIDUS AN'D SOBEX 



CAUDATUS 3IEBEIAM. 



Three names given by me to new species 

 of mammals prove to be preoccupied and 

 are here replaced. 



Spermophilus chrysodeirus brevicaudus Mer- 

 riam (Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. VIII., 134, 

 December 28, 1893), from the San Ber- 

 nardino Mountains in California, is pre- 

 occupied by Spennophilus brevicauda Brandt 

 (Bull. Acad. St. Petersburg, 1844, II., 369) 

 from the southern Altai. I propose in its 

 stead Spermophilus (^Callospermophilus) ber- 

 nardinus. 



Canis pallidus Merriam (Proc. Biol. Soc, 

 Wash., XL, 24, March 15, 1897), from the 

 plains of Nebraska, is preoccupied by Canis 

 pallidus Eiippell (Atlas zu Reise in Nordl. 

 Afrika I., 33, taf. 11, 1826) from Kordofan. 

 I propose in its stead Canis nebraeensis. 



Sorex saussurei caudatus Merriam (N. Am. 

 Fauna, No. 10, p. 84, Dec. 31, 1895), from 

 Reyes, Oaxaca, Mexico, is preoccupied by 

 Sorex caudatus Hodgson (Horsefield'a Catal. 

 Mammals Mus. East India Co., p. 135, 1851), 

 from Sikkim and Darjeling, India. I pro- 

 pose to replace it by Sorex saussurei mutabilis. 

 C. Hart Merriam. 



A NEW NAME FOR MICROTUS INSULAEIS 

 BAILEY. 



In a preliminary paper describing several 

 new Voles (Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., XII., 

 86, April 30, 1898) I gave the name Ilicro- 

 tus insidaris to a species from Great Gull 

 Island, X. Y. This name proves to be pre- 



