434 General Notes. [July, 
BotanicaAL Papers IN Recent PERIODICALS. — Flora, No. 10, 
Batalin, Mechanism of the Movements of Insect-Eating Plants. H. 
G. Holle, On the Activity of Assimilation in Strelitzia regine (con- 
' tinued in Nos. 11 and 18). No. 11. F. V. Thiimen, Notes on “ My- 
cotheca Universalis.” H. Leitgeb, On Bilaterality of Prothallia. No. 12. 
Dr. George Winter, Lichenological Notices. 
Botanische Zeitung, Nos. 17, 18, and 19. H. Hoffmann, Experiments 
on the Culture of Variable Forms of Achillea Clavenne, Aquilegia vul- 
garis, Avena orientalis, Hordeum trifurcatum, Papaver Rhæas, Plantago 
alpina, and P. maritima, Polygonum amphibium, Rumex scutatus, Silene 
rupestris, Triticum turgidum. Dr. J. Péyritsch, With Reference to the 
Ovular Theory. No. 20. Dr. H. Banke, The Development of the 
Ascomycetes. 
ZOOLOGY.! 
_ Tae Mountain Boomer, or Suowrt. — This name is applied in 
Oregon to the Aplodontia leporina, or “ Sewellel,” a rare rodent of the 
Pacific coast. According to Dr. F. S. Matteson, of Coquille, Coos 
County, Oregon, “the animal in question is found living in communities, 
and burrowing into the dry hills and mountain spurs in the ‘burns’ of 
this region. It is called ‘mountain boomer,’ and makes a kind of boom- 
ing noise. It is also called ‘mountain beaver,’ as in its appearance and 
burrowing habits it remotely resembles the beaver. It is a vegetarian, 
subsisting most probably on barks and roots, and is a rarity even here, 
being exceedingly shy and difficult to catch.” We add the following ac 
count by Dr. Matteson in his own words : — 
The showtl inhabits the western slope of the “Coast Range 
mountains, from Puget Sound to California, He is a digger par excel- 
lence and burrows into the sides of the hills, usually in the neighorhood 
of a spring. He is patriarchally social, and settles his progeny around 
him, often forming quite a community. He is of a retiring disposition, 
choosing the deep recesses of the mountains for his home, and appears 
to understand intuitively that the white man is to him an undesirable 
neighbor. He is herbivorous, and is supposed to subsist upon the roots 
and succulent stems of annual plants, chief among which is the mountain 
fern, which usually grows luxuriantly near the spot which he selects for 
his burrow. When the rainy season, which is our winter here, comes, — 
he retires to his under-ground domicil, first covering the entrance with 
the leaves and stalks of the fern, and proceeds to enjoy himself in the — 
bosom of his family until the return of spring. Whether he really hiber- 
nates or not is a disputed point with the showtl sharps of this region, but 
the weight of authority appears to favor the views of the hibernationists. 
I know that I have never been able to procure any specimens in winter, 
and those of early spring are remarkable for seediness, as though 4 
1 The departments of Ornithology and Mammalogy are conducted by Dr. ELtIoTT 
Coves, U. 8. A, 
” of 
