274 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



sylvanicus, meadow mouse), Arvicola oneida ( -Microtus pennsylvanicus, 

 meadow mouse), and A. alborufescens ( -Evotomys gapperi, common 

 red-backed mouse), prove to have been founded on insufficient charac- 

 ters. One species [Microtus pinetorum scalopsoides, northern pine 

 mouse) described by Audubon and Bachman in 1841 from specimens 

 taken on Long Island, De Kay omits. Therefore the total number of 

 known New York mammals in 1842 was 56. 



During the 40 years immediately following the publication of De Kay's 

 work, the list of New York mammals received only three additions : 

 Neoioma pennsylvanica, cave rat, recorded by Baird in 1857 under the 

 specific name floridana, Parascalops breweri, hairy-tailed mole, recorded 

 by Baird in 1865 under the name Scalops breweri and Alyotis subulatus, 

 Say's bat, recorded by H. Allen in 1863, and for the first time dis- 

 tinguished from M. lucifugus, little brown bat ( =the Vespertilio subulatus 

 of De Kay). It is possible that the supposed occurrence of the opossum 

 was confirmed during this period; but I have been unable to determine 

 when the first definite record of this animal as an inhabitant of New York 

 was published. Most of the eliminations to which I have referred were, 

 however, made during this period by Baird, Coues and J. A. Allen. 

 From 1842 to 1882 there appeared no important paper dealing specially 

 with the mammals of New York, a clear indication that the stability of 

 the list during this time resulted from lack of interest in the subject 

 rather than from fulness of knowledge. 



After De Kay, the first writer to deal extensively with the mammals of 

 New York was Dr C. Hart Merriam, who issued two volumes on the 

 mammals of the Adirondack region in 1882 and 1884. At about the 

 same time he published several short special papers which, together with 

 the volumes just mentioned, give the results of 15 years' field work in 

 northern New York. It is not surprising therefore to find recorded in 

 this short period as many additions to the mammalian fauna of the state 

 as were made during the preceding 40 years. The species added to 

 the New York list by Merriam at this time are : Sciuropterus sabrinus 

 macrotis} Canadian flying squirrel ('84d, p. 108) Sorex fumeus? smoky 

 shrew ('84c!, p. 77), and Tamias striatus lysteri, northeastern chipmunk 

 ('86, p. 242). This number appears small in view of the fact that more 

 than twice as many species have since been added to the New York list 

 from the Adirondack region alone. It is, however, a good illustration 

 of the futility of even the most determined efforts, unaided by the 

 methods of collecting afterward perfected chiefly by Dr Merriam himself. 



1 Recorded as S. volucella hudsonica. 



2 Recorded as S. platyrhinus. 



