INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 



Considering the size, abundance and economic importance of 

 the group, probably no branch of natural history has been so much 

 neglected in Indiana as the study of mammals. In seeking infor- 

 mation in any locality it is usually necessary first to explain what 

 .is meant by "mammal." Then the resident, whether he be farmer, 

 hunter or amateur naturalist, is usually unable to enumerate more 

 than six or eight kinds of fur-bearing and game animals. 



If asked concerning shrews, it is probable that he will say very 

 positively that there are none. Possibly he may admit the existence 

 of some kind of mouse other than the house mouse, but on being 

 shown specimens of meadow mice he will call them moles, and when 

 the collector brings in shrews, trapped perhaps within sight of his 

 house, he will either say that he has never before seen such ani- 

 mals or assert that they are young moles, and he is usually aston- 

 ished if a collector secures twenty or more species of small mam- 

 mals in his locality in a week or ten days. 



The professional naturalist is but little better informed con- 

 cerning the mammals of this region. The Central States have been 

 passed over for more fruitful fields by the government agents and 

 museum collectors. When the writer began gathering material for 

 this paper five years ago, there were not a dozen Indiana speci- 

 mens in the national collections at Washington. The State Mu- 

 seum at Indianapolis contains a fairly representative mounted 

 collection, but lacks a number of species of mice, shrews and bats, 

 and has no reserve material for study. With the exception of In- 

 diana University, where there is a small collection, there are no 

 specimens available in any Indiana college. 



The primary purpose of this paper is to furnish a contribution 

 to the zoology of the State which will enable students to identify 

 the species of Indiana mammals, and which will give the principal 

 facts known regarding their distribution, life history, habits, food 

 and relation to man. 



MATERIAL AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 



Work on this article w^as begin in 1904 while the writer was 

 employed in the United States National Museum at Washington, 

 as an aid in charge of the Division of Mammals, and much of the 



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