other subjects. The diary of January 17, 1844, has this item: 'Commenced making extracts from Torrey and Gray's Flora.' He needed the use of a microscope, and this was loaned to him by Dr. Haldeman, the well-known naturalist, who befriended him in many ways. In 1844 we find him visiting Dr. Melsheimer, the coleopterist. The year 1843 was one of great activity in field research and collecting. The diary says: 'Walked about 1,400 miles this year. Used about 70 lbs. shot, 8 lbs. powder, and 1,800 caps.'
Not only did Baird add much to what was known of the distribution and characters of the birds and quadrupeds of Pennsylvania, but five entirely new ones were discovered in the vicinity of Carlisle, namely, two birds, a lizard, a frog and a salamander. The birds were the yellow-bellied and least flycatchers; they formed the subject of Baird's first published paper, which appeared in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, in 1843. This paper, which was the joint product of the brothers, William and Spencer, was entitled 'Descriptions of Two Species, supposed to be New, of the Genus Tyrannula, Swainson, found in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.' The birds were named Tyrannula flaviventris and Tyrannula minima, and are to-day well-known species; they are now placed in the genus Empidonax, to which Baird subsequently removed them.
The salamander, Pseudotriton montanus, was published in 1849; it is now known as Spelerpes ruber montanus (Baird). The lizard, published in the same year, is Eumeces anthracinus (Baird), while the frog, not published until 1854, is known as Chorophilus feriarum (Baird). It will be admitted that these were interesting finds in a region so well known as Pennsylvania toward the middle of the last century; evidence that Baird was using his own eyes, and not depending too much upon the work of others. Another discovery, of some-what later date, was an apparently extinct rat of large size, the remains of which occurred in the bone caves of Pennsylvania. This animal was described in 1857 as Neotoma magister; but many years afterwards a rat was found still living in Pennsylvania, the bones of which do not seem essentially different from those of Baird's animal, and it is thought by some that the two are identical. This was the only fossil animal ever described by Baird.
In 1844 the Baird brothers published a second paper, a 'List of Birds Found in the Vicinity of Carlisle, Cumberland County, Penna., about Lat. 40° 12', N. Lon. 77° 11' W.,' which appeared in the American Journal of Science and Arts. It is characteristic of Baird's love of precision that he should cite the latitude and longitude in the title. The list enumerated 201 species observed by the brothers, with particulars about their time of appearance, abundance, etc. In 1845 a revised edition appeared, enumerating 202 species from the county,
