DE. BUEMEISTEB ON THE MAMMALS OF LA FLATA. 391 
It should be mentioned that this part of Dr. Burmeister’s labours 
is stated to be only the prelude of a larger work upon the Zoology of 
the Argentine Bepublic, which we trust that his permanent residence 
in the country will enable him to undertake in a more complete 
manner than he had originally anticipated. 
Fifty species of Mammals are recognized by Dr. Burmeister as 
being found within the limits of the Argentine Bepublic. In the 
Brazilian provinces of Bio de Janeiro and Minas Geraes, traversed 
on his former journey, Dr. Burmeister obtained evidence of the 
existence of upwards of 130 Mammals. We see, therefore, at once 
that in comparison with the southern provinces of Brazil La Plata is 
poor indeed in species of Mammals. The following list gives the 
number of species of each order enumerated in Dr. Burmeister’s 
recent work, the Brazilian species described in his “ Systematische 
Bebersicht” being added for the sake of comparison. 
Argentine Republic. 
8. R. Brazil. 
Quadrumana 
4 
11 
Chiroptera 
5 
31 
Ferae 
14 
17 
Marsupialia . 
2 
14 
Glires . 
13 
44 
Edentata 
5 
10 
Buminantia 
5 
5 
Pachydermata 
2 
3 
50 
135 
The Quadrumana of La Plata only occur in the wooded districts 
on the Uruguay, Parana and Paraguay in the north-eastern part 
of the Bepublic. They were not met with in the parts of the 
country traversed by Dr. Burmeister—their organization being evi¬ 
dently ill-adapted for the vast open Pampas, which cover the greater 
portion of the middle and southern provinces. The three species 
recorded as being met with in the wooded districts above mentioned, 
upon what appears to be the not very reliable testimony of Martin 
de Moussy* are the Brazilian forms Mycetes caraya , Cebus fatuellus, 
Callithrix personata and Hapale penicillata. 
In Chiroptera also La Plata is poor. Not a single member of the 
characteristic American family of BJiyllostomatidcevr&s met with by Dr. 
Burmeister during his three years sojourn in the country, although 
Bengger records the existence of five species of this group in the 
neighbouring republic of Paraguay. The Bats obtained by Dr. Bur¬ 
meister were of five species only : Dysopes multi-spinosus sp. nov. 
D. naso, Blecotus velatus , Vespertilio isiclori and JVycticejus bona - 
riensis. 
* Description geographique et stati&tique de la Confederation Argentine. Paris, 
1860 . 
