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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLIV 



boni group, the reduction to subspecies of numerous forms pre- 

 viously recognized as species, and the raising to specific rank of 

 forms formerly treated as subspecies. 



The only new form appears to be a subspecies littoralis of 

 Lrpus a<i\«tticus Bachman, through the assignment of a type 

 locality for aquaticus. As Mr. Nelson says, there "was no defi- 

 nite type," and the species was described "from specimens ob- 

 tained in western Alabama by Dr. J. M. Lee. ... No definite 

 type locality is mentioned, but the context appears to indicate 

 that these specimens came from western Alabama, which may be 

 considered the type region." He further states that "the types 

 do not appear to have been preserved." and were thus unavail- 

 able as an aid in settling the type locality. In the original ac- 

 count of this species Dr. Bachman said that he did not know of 

 its existence "to the east or north of the State of Alabama," 

 but that "it is numerous in all the swamps of the western parts 

 of that state, is still more abundant in the State of Mississippi 

 and the lower parts' of Louisiana, and is frequently brought by 

 the Indians to the market of New Orleans." If Mr. Nelson had 

 been the first to split the Lt pus aquaticus group into a Gulf 

 coast form and an interior form his course would be justifiable, 

 but this division was made long before, when the Lepns aquati- 

 cus attwatcri was separated on the basis of comparison of speci- 

 mens from the vicinity of San Antonio. Texas, with a series from 

 the vicinity of New Orleans. He recognizes only the same two 

 forms, so that his littoralis is properly a synonym of Lepns 

 aquatievs aquaticus, with the name of the interior form still 

 Lepus aquaticus attwatcri. Were it conclusively known that 

 the type locality of aquaticus was within the range of the inte- 

 rior form, he Avould be fully justified in his present ruling, but in 

 view of the fact that it is at best conjectural, and that the same 

 division of the species he now makes had been made before, thus 

 in effect restricting the name aquaticus to the Gulf coast form, 

 his action in the case seems at least open to reasonable objection. 



The illustrations comprise twelve excellent plates (from photo- 

 graphs) of skulls of the different leading types of North Amer- 

 ican hares and rabbits, a plate (from a wash drawing) of 

 "directive coloration in Lepus callotis," and nineteen text fig- 



