Nov., 1919 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 219 
wads to determine the most effective load and the one making the least noise. 
Both the twenty-two auxiliary, and later the thirty-two and the cane gun, 
proved great successes, and in time practically all the collectors known to me 
were supplied with one or both, most of which were made in Washington. 
DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING FIELD NATURAL HISTORY WORK 
As has been stated, the main purpose of the Wheeler Survey was the map- 
ping of the country traversed, while geology and natural history were but sec- 
ondary objects. Thus most of the time our collecting had to be done while on 
the march, and the specimens cared for at night. Not rarely, in order to be 
sure and save rare birds I dismounted and used the saddle on my mule as a dis- 
secting table, and I can assure my readers that the process is an interesting one 
and likely to tax all his skill and patience, especially when flies are numerous 
and the mule restive. 
The route followed by our parties often carried us through territory un- 
fruitful for the naturalist, although inviting collecting grounds might be visi- 
ble in the adjacent mountains, which the exigencies of the topographical work 
forbade us to enter. While the chiefs of the parties furnished the scientific 
staff all the opportunities for their investigations possible consistent with the 
successful prosecution of the topographical work, even so, the results of our 
work were comparatively small, considering the time spent in the field. Much 
of the time Indians had to be reckoned with, even when not openly hostile, and 
the scientific assistants were directed always to carry the revolver or carbine 
formally issued to them. These proved a nuisance, and I am happy to say were 
never actually needed. Indeed they proved worse than useless, since revolvers 
in unaccustomed hands resulted in the death of one member of the Survey and 
the disabling of another. 
LENGTH OF FIELD SEASON AND OFFICE WORK 
The length of our field seasons varied much, depending largely on the time 
of the passage of the appropriation bills, say from June till November, or even 
December. Field work completed, there followed the office work in Washing- 
ton where reports of progress and final reports were completed. Much to my 
regret my own reports on the birds were limited strictly to the results ob- 
tained by myself and the other members of the Expedition, which of course 
materially limited their scope. 
MAMMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 
Recalling my several years experience as a collecting naturalist in the far 
west, it seems strange how small was the number of mammals collected com- 
pared with that of birds. While it was true that I was much more interested 
in birds than in mammals, I was fully alive to the importance of securing all 
the mammals possible, and never allowed an opportunity to collect them, espe- 
cially the smaller species, to pass unimproved. 
The fact is that the earlier naturalists knew practically nothing about trap- 
ping, even if the speed with which they usually traversed the country had not 
precluded the systematic use of traps. Mammals of the size of rabbits and 
squirrels were easily obtained, and I collected many, as did my predecessors. 
But the presence of the smaller rodents, especially mice and other nocturnal 
species, was only dimly suspected, and these were obtained for the most part 
only when chance threw them in the way of the collector. Moreover, even as 
