1853.] : 405 
clusions may not in any instance prove erroneous. I do not think that the short 
and defective descriptions of others have misled me; although such might well 
have been the case. The following descriptions are made as full as possible, 
for the time has past when short descriptions of half a dozen words can be of any 
use; the unusual number of cbjects claiming our attention at the present day in 
the three kingdoms of nature, require them to be so drawn up that they never 
can be too minute, nor their details too extended. 
The most inconceivable confusion has been introduced into Natural History 
by the publication, a few years ago, of a Fauna of the United States. An author 
who was scarcely capable of forming a scientific idea, introduced himself into a 
place, which a more modest man would have hesitated to occupy, and by as- 
suming discoveries to which he had no right. and imposing names of his own 
upon animals which had long been known under other names, has dishonest] y 
attempted to rob the real discoverers of the credit to which they were entitled. 
Thus, the rubbish of synonomy kas been increased, and doubt and uncertainty 
introduced where all might have been plain and distinct. I beg leave to offer 
a few instances of this author? s conduct in this place; others will be produced 
hereafter. Harlen, in his Fauna Americana, states that the Arvicola amphibius 
of Europe is common in this country. Now, there is no proof that he ever saw 
this animal living or dead. He gives.a description which is translated verbatim 
from Demarest, and shows a woful ignorance of the French language by trans- 
lating ** plus clair °? clearer, instead “of paler. Again, he tells us that the Mus 
sylvaticus is a native of the United States; and here again he makes free with 
the Frenchman’s words, and again mistranslates. This animal was never seen 
living on this side of the Atlantic. 
In the following descriptions I have admitted nothing which celle be con- 
sidered common to all the species of any genus, such as the color of the teeth, 
the hairiness of the posterior inner angle of the mouth, the squamosity of the 
under side of the toes, or the color of the eyes; all those matters merely fill up 
space, and ought from the first to be known as unvarying generic, not specific 
characteristics. Comparisons with other species mixed ‘with the ‘genuine cha- 
racters, ‘ note collatitie,’? so much reprobated by Linneus, have likewise been 
studiously avoided. 
1. ARvicoLaA aPELLA. Auribus brevissimis, sub pilis occultis, intus et extus 
pilosis. Pedibus gracilibus, brevibus. Cauda brevi, supra obscure badia, subtus 
cinereo-plumbea. 
Hah. In Pennsylvania in agris cultis. (Dr. Woodhouse.) 
Hair dark lead color, above tipt with brown, redder on the sides; beneath 
with gray, inclining to brownish on the chin and throat. Head short, blunt ; 
ears very short. rounded, slightly hairy both within and without, entirely con- 
cealed under the fur, antitragus snort, semicircular. Legs very short; feet pale 
brownish, covered with short, shining hair; thumb tubercle, furnished witha 
short blunt nail. Tail very short, above brown, beneath grayish. Length, in- 
cluding the tail, in. 4-7; head 1-; ears °2; foreleg -5; hind leg 1-1; tail -7. 
2. Arvicora EpAx. Brevis et robustus, supra spadiceo et nigro permixtus. 
Auribus extra pilos exstantibus. Cauda mediocri, supra nigra, subtus cinerea. 
Hab. In California. 
Body short and thick. Hair plumbeous black, above and on the sides tipt 
with shining brown mixed with black, beneath tipt with grey. Head short, 
blunt, ears round, not entirely concealed under the fur, hairy within and without, 
antitragus large, semicircular. Feet covered with short, shining gray hair, 
thumb, tubercle, with a short, very blunt nail. Tail moderate, hairy, above, 
dusky beneath, grey, with a slight tinge of brownish 
Length as before, in. 5:5; head 1-4; ears -5; foreleg 1-3; hind leg 1°5; tail 1.5. 
3. ARVICOLA AUSTERUS. Supra fusco et nigro permixtus, subtus obscure 
schistosus. Auribus extra pilos exstantibus, extus pilosis. Cauda gracili, dense 
pilosa. 
Hab. In Wisconsin. (Prof. Baird.) 
