MAMMALS COLLECTED BY THE SMITHSONUN-HARVARD EXPEDITION TO THE ALTAI MOUNTAINS, 1912. By N. HOLLISTER, Assistant Curator, Division of Mammals, United States National Museum. INTRODUCTION. The fauna of the Altai Mountains, Siberia and Mongolia, has been virtually unrepresented in American museums. The United States National Museum, therefore, gladly welcomed the generous invitation of Dr. Theodore Lyman to participate, with the Museum of Compara-tive Zoology at Harvard, in a zoological expedition to that part of Asia during the summer of 1912, and I was detailed as its representa-tive for field work. Doctor Lyman's plans were to foUow the routes of the Demidoff ^ and the Swayne ^ sporting expeditions to the country of the famous Altai wild sheep, on the Mongolian side of the Little Altai, and, while securing good specimens of the sheep, ibex, and other large game of that region, to make the most of the opportunity afforded to coUect the smaller vertebrate animals for the two museums. The resulting trip extended to nearly four months, but so much time was taken by the long journey to and from the scene of operations that only about thirty-five days of actual collecting were enjoyed. We were fortunate, however, in our selections of camp sites in three different physiographical regions, and by working at high pressure when the opportunity offered we were enabled to make much greater and more varied collections than we had anticipated. Doctor Lyman, whose time was chiefly devoted to the collecting of large game, had engaged as my assistant in the work of collecting the smaller verte-brates Conrad Kain, of Vienna. Without the assistance of this indefatigable mountaineer, whose resourcefulness, ability, and good companionship are known to Alpine Club people of many countries, the collection would be much smaller than it is. The collection of ' E. Demidoff, After Wild Sheep in the Altai and Mongolia, pp. i-xii; 1-324; numerous illustrations and map, London, 1900. 2 H. G. 0. Swayne, Through the Highlands of Siberia, pp. i-xiv; 1-259; 60 illustrations and map, London, 1904. Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. 45— No. 1930. 507
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