130 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1884. 



rator under the name of Neofiber Alleni,* from a single specimen col- 

 lected by William Wittfeld, Esq., at Georgiana, Fla. The second new 

 species, a shrew, was described by Dr. Merriam under the name Ato- 

 phyrax Bendirei t. The type of this species is not in the Museum. An- 

 other apparent addition to the fauna is the Brazlian bat, known as Ves- 

 pertilio arsinoe) a specimen of which was sent to the Museum from Ban- 

 ner, Kans., by Mr. A. B. Baker. 



The Museam purchased from the same gentleman a pair of extraor- 

 dinarily large specimens of Ord's pocket-mouse, Dipodomys Phillipsii 

 Ordii, for exhibition at New Orleans. Mr. Lewis Sells presented an 

 exceedingly fine puma, Felis concolor, which was mounted in the best 

 manDer by the chief taxidermist, and was also sent to the New Orleans 

 Exhibition. Skins of a red lynx, peccary, mountain sheep, and beaver, 

 and one or two smaller forms were purchased from Mr. H. A. Ward 

 for exhibition at the same place, the collection being found wanting in 

 mountable specimens of these animals. 



The most important faunal collections have been those of Mr. C. H. 

 Townseud, from California, and Mr. E. W. Nelson, from Arizona. The 

 former collection includes fresh specimens of nearly all the important 

 terrestrial mammals of California and aquatic species as well. Worthy 

 of special mention is an extensive series of antlers of the Columbian 

 deer, Cariacus columbianus, showing numerous curious variations. Mr. 

 Nelson's collection consists mostly of rodents and other small forms, 

 but he has recently been in quest of the large species. 



British America and Alaska. — The officers of the Signal Bureau sta- 

 tioned at Point Barrow sent, in connection with other specimens, a large 

 series of skins of the lemmings, Cuniculus torquatus and Myodes obensis. 

 From British America the most important accession is the collection of 

 skins and skeletons made by Mr. Lucien M. Turner in the vicinity of Hud- 

 son's Bay. The series included two very fine skins of the Polar hare, 

 Lepus timidus, one of which was sent to the New Orleans Exhibition. 



Central America and the West Indies. — Mr. Benedict, naturalist of the 

 U. S. Fish Commission steamship Albatross, while in the West Indies, 

 secured after much labor a number of specimens of the so-called 

 fishing bat, Noctilio leporinus, var. mastivus, and of the common arti- 

 beus, A. perspicillatus. The authorities of the British Museum pre- 

 sented a series of specimens of West Indian and Central American bats, 

 representing species previously wanting in our collections. 



The department has also received from Mr. Zeledon a number of 

 Costa Bican mammals, including a specimen of Felis yaguarundi* from 

 which a skeleton will be prepared. 



Other parts of the world. — As already stated, the number of exotic 

 mammals received during the year has been quite large, owing princi- 

 pally to the great number of donations from dealers in live animals and 



• Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., VII, July 29, 1884, pp. 170, 171. 

 + Trans. Linn. Soc. New York, II, 1884. 



