Mercur Miner | 1907-11-06 | Page 7 | The Number of Animals

THE NUMBER OF ANIMALS. Recent Attempts to Tabulate the Beasts That Perlih. Evory now and then somo naturalist natural-ist endeavors to uiako an npnroxlmata numerical count of known nnlmal species. This kind of attempt Is surely sure-ly not without Interest, but It must bo acknowledged that Its results aro vory , uncertain. Wo nro far from knowing all species, and thcro Is yet n dollght-ful dollght-ful prospect nhend for those who lovo systematic zoology and for zoologists who bostow mutual honors by gllng each other's names to somo animal hitherto unknown. As Kurmami remarked to a recent meeting of naturalists at tho museum, to which ho presented his "Catalogues Mammallttm," tho species of rodents known In 1SS0 wero only 370 In number; num-ber; now they nro 1,900. Tho number num-ber has thus, at least, doubled In 27 years. Tho number of living species of this creature now known Is about 1,600, divided among ICO gencrn. This family Is tho most numerous of tho clasB of mammalia. Wlsscn fur Alio.