MAMMALS-TALl’IDAE-SCALOPS AQUATIC US. 
61 
The tail is very short and slender, about as long as the fore foot, and rather more than half 
the length of the head ; it is slightly constricted at the base, tapers gently to a moderately ob¬ 
tuse tip, and is scantily coated with white hairs, which are invisible, except on close examina¬ 
tion, and allow the tail to appear naked. The upper surfaces of the feet are similarly consti¬ 
tuted, and all appear white in the fresh specimen. On the basal third or fourth of the tail, 
the hairs are larger and darker, and more distinctly noticeable. 
The color of this species varies considerably. It is sometimes of a rather light and lustrous 
pure plumbago, paler below, and without any appreciable mixture of reddish brown. Usually, 
however, the hairs have a gloss of the latter color, particularly such as have been preserved for 
a time in alcohol. The precise shade of coloration varies almost with the specimen. I have 
never seen any as dark as S. toivnsendii, from Oregon, though several resembles closely in color 
the S. californicus of Ayres. 
A single specimen in the entire series before me (No. 2465, from St. Simon’s island, Georgia) 
has a large transverse blotch or patch on the abdomen, in which the hairs are yellowish white 
to the roots. This corresponds to a similar variety of Scalops townsendii, figured by Audubon 
and Bachman, and described as a distinct species ( S. tceniata ) by Leconte. 
Measurements. 
Current 
number. 
Locality. 
From nose to the- 
Tail to the 
end of— 
Hand. 
Foot. 
Width 
of palm. 
Nature 
of specimen. 
Eye. 
Ear. 
Back 
of head. 
Root 
of tail. 
Vert. 
Hair. 
2215 
Blount county, Tenn 
5. 00 
. 88 
. 80 
. 90 
Tn alcohol 
2203 
Jackson county, N. C . . 
. 65 
1.15 
1.55 
4. 35 
.85 
,1.00 
. 75 
.do. 
2195 
Indian River, Fla 
. 60 
1. 25 
1. 30 
3. 95 
.92 
. 76 
_do_ 
2207 
Do. 
.62 
1.20 
1.58 
4. 04 
.82 
_ 
.73 
. 
.73 
.do. 
2204 
Jacksonville, Fla_ 
.60 
1. 15 
1. 50 
3.54 
.88 
. 75 
__ .do__ 
2216 
"Eutaw. Ala_ 
1. 15 
1. 65 
4. 20 
1.12 
. 82 
. 65 
. 80 
.....do._ 
2192 
Society Hill, S C 
.79 
1. 11 
1. 82 
4. 15 
. 87 
. 60 
.do. 
2172 
Spottsylvania county, Va 
.82 
1. 63 
4. 45 
.80 
. 63 
.do. 
2174 
Do... 
1. 60 
4. 65 
. 90 
1.02 
. 75 
_.do___ 
2175 
Do.. 
. 70 
1. 63 
4.46 
1. 05 
1.11 
. 66 
_do__ __ 
2191 
Carlisle, Penn_ 
. 69 
1. 52 
4. 10 
1. 05 
. 68 
_do_ 
2190 
Upper Darby, Penn.... 
1. 80 
4. 85 
. 95 
. 73 
_.do.. 
2193 
Washington, D. C_ 
1. 75 
4. 55 
. 95 
. 75 
.....do........ 
2213 
Wethersfield, Conn.... 
1. 00 
1. 68 
4. 42 
1.19 
. 86 
. 73 
.90 
_.do_ 
2212 
Washington, Miss._ 
1. 75 
4. 38 
. 85 
1. 00 
. 77 
_.do_ 
The general range of this species is well indicated by the list of the specimens examined. 
I am not sure that the one last mentioned, from Blount county, Tennessee, is not the S. argen- 
tatus. Considerable differences exist in different specimens as to the breadth of the palm and 
other characteristics; those from the southern States appearing to have them less fully developed. 
I have, however, not been able to detect any positive characters by which they might be 
distinguished. 
