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ANNUAL REPORT
TRUSTEES

OF THE

MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY,

TOGETHER WITH

THE REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR.

1862.

CAMBRIDGE:

WELCH, BIGELOW, AND COMPANY,
Gnibersity ress.

1873.

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Caontntanwealtir of Massachusetts,

Boston, February 21, 1862.
To the Honorable the Senate and the House of Representatives : —

AT the Annual Meeting of the Trustees of the Museum of
Comparative Zoology, January 29, 1862, it was

Voted, That the Secretary communicate to the Legislature the An-
nual Report of Professor Agassiz, with a statement of transactions of
the past year.

On the ninth day of April last, a Resolve of the Legislature
was passed, by which the sum of twenty thousand dollars was |
granted to the Museum, to be applied to the support of the Mu-
seum, and to the care and preservation of the collections. The
amount has been received, and nearly all expended upon the
orders of the Trustees.

In the month of August last, the Treasurer of this Corporation
received of the Treasurer of the Commonwealth the first instal-
ment from proceeds of sales of Back Bay lands, amounting to
twenty thousand six hundred and fifty-seven dollars.

In pursuance of the Resolve, unanimously adopted by the Trus-
tees, October 31, 1860, that the whole amount of the principal
of the grant made by the Commonwealth (from the Back Bay
lands) shall be invested from time to time when received, and
that the income only of such fund shall be expended, this instal-
ment has been invested in the six per cent bonds of the State of
Massachusetts. .

72 _ MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [ Feb.

In the month of October last, the Committee on the Museum
reported: “That during the past year, a great amount of im-
portant work has been done at the Museum. It has consisted
chiefly in overhauling thoroughly the whole collection, every
specimen of which is reported by the Director of the Museum to
be in a safe condition, in which it may remain uninjured for an
indefinite time. The main purpose, therefore, for which the last
liberal grant of the Legislature was made is fulfilled.

“ Besides this, however, the specimens have all been distributed
according to their classes and families, and made accessible for
investigation and for teaching ; and the separation of the dupli-
cates has been begun, and is well advanced, so that exchanges
are making, and will continue to-be made, to the great increase
and advantage of the institution, and of the interests of science
in this Commonwealth and out of it.

“Your Committee therefore report that the Museum is in ex-
cellent order, and in condition — so far as the building affords
room to display and open its specimens — to fulfil the great pur-
poses for which it has been founded and endowed by public and
private munificence.” _

The third Annual Report of the Director, which is annexed,
marked [A], gives a detailed statement of the operations at the
Museum for the year.

The statement annexed, marked [B], contains a list of the
names of trustees, officers, and members of the, standing commit-
tees for the year 1862.

On behalf and in the name of the Trustees,

WILLIAM GRAY, Secretary.

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1862.] MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. | 73

[A.]
THIRD ANNUAL REPORT

Of the Museum of Comparative Zoilogy, by Louis AGassiz, presented to
the Board of Trustees at their meeting in October, 1861.

Thanks to the liberality of the Legislature, the year which opened
under such threatening auspices has been thus far one of the most
successful and prosperous through which our young institution has
passed. The $20,000 appropriated in the last regular session of the
General Court, added to the income from the Gray Fund and from
the Back Bay land, has made it possible to carry on all the operations
of the Museum with unabated activity. During this year, two hundred
and seventy-five boxes, barrels, cans, etc., containing specimens of all
kinds frofn different parts of the world, have been received, — twenty-
five more than have been sent to us in any previous year. For these
fresh supplies we are indebted to the efforts of eighty-one different
individuals, showing how strong an interest is felt in the progress of
our institution.

The Gray Fund was applied chiefly to the expenses incident to the
arrival of these specimens and to the purchase of new collections.
Among the latter, the most interesting are collections of fossils from
Dr. Campiche and Messrs. Ebray and Seman, collections of insects
from Dr. Imhoff, and collections of shells from Messrs. Bartlett and
Parreyss. A private subscription from some friends of the Museum
has been devoted to the formation of a special natural-history library,
now arranged in the gallery of one of the laboratories. To this col-
lection the Hon, Charles Sumner has added a series of the scientific
works published by order of the Federal government. The books
relating to palaeontology were for the most part obtained from Dr. de
Koninck. The library numbers already more than 6,000 volumes.

It has been one of my aims to obtain from original investigators
well-authenticated specimens of species already described, in order to
incorporate in our Museum the traditions of our science, and make it
as far as possible a standard for the identification of species. The

74 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [ Feb.

absence of such standards has been a serious obstacle and incon-
venience to American naturalists. The largest number of such speci-
mens has been obtained from the collection of Dr. de Koninck, which
has been secured for the Museum. The Smithsonian Institution has
also made most valuable donations to the Museum from its rich
stores. Indeed, our institution is constantly benefited by the gener-
_osity and kindness of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution,
whose liberal direction of the establishment under his charge greatly
enlarges the sphere of its usefulness. Whenever any special investiga-
tions have been going on at the Museum, the specimens of the Smith-
sonian collections belonging to the groups under examination have
been placed at our disposal, and have afforded us the most valuable
assistance. Dr. Poey has most generously forwarded to us the origi-
nals of his description of the fishes of Cuba, among which are unique
specimens, and from Dr. Imhoff we have received many thousand
European insects. ,

As soon as the system of exchanges inaugurated with many of the
great museums of the Old World shall have been carried out, it is
expected that the number of well-authenticated original specimens
will be greatly increased. We have already received highly valuable
returns from the Museum of Copenhagen, and arrangements have
been made with the Jardin des Plantes, from which valuable speci-
mens have already been received, through Professor Valenciennes ;
and with the Zodlogical Museums of Stuttgard, Freiburg, and Mont-
pelier, as well as with the Anatomical Museum in Vienna, for similar
exchanges. Professor Milne-Edwards has kindly offered to superin-
tend himself the selection of the crustacea from the Jardin des Plantes
intended for us. Exchanges have also been made with Amherst Col-
lege and with several private individuals; and an active system of
exchanges is constantly going on with the Essex Institute of Salem,
from which the Museum has received most valuable specimens. From
the Earl of Enniskillen we have received many fossil fishes, and also
a magnificent fossil Irish elk, which forms one of the principal orna-
ments of the Museum.

From the explorations carried on in foreign countries under the
auspices of the Museum, very large collections have been received,
through Mr. Garret, from the Kings Mills and Society Islands.

ee ee eee eee es

1862. ] MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. TS

Valuable collections have also been received through Captain Put-
nam, from the coast of China; through T. G. Cary, Esq., from Cal-
ifornia ; through Dr. Wheatland, from Buenos Ayres ; through Captain
Webb, and also through Mr. Webb, United States Consul at Zanzibar,
from that locality ; through Captain Cheever, from Singapore and the
Cape of Good Hope ; through Captain Millet, from the Gulf of Arabia ;
through Mr. and Miss Dabney, from Fayal; through Dr. Ranlett,
of Charlestown, from Cape Horn ; through Captain Harrington, from
the Rio Grande in South America ; through Captain Dillingham, from
the Cape of Good Hope; through Captain Couthouy, from the Andes ;
through Professor J. Wyman, from South America; through J. M.
Barnard, Esq., from Singapore ; through Professor H. A. Ward, from
Egypt ; through Lieutenant Preble, of the United States Navy, from
the Galapagos Islands; through M. G. Dexter, Esq., from Japan;
through J. M. Aviles, Esq., from Cienfuegos, in Cuba; through F. G.
Shaw, Esq., from Nassau, and through Dr. Holder, from Fort. Jeffer-
son, Florida. We are indebted also to Captain J. Anderson for valu-
able fossils from Malta and also from England.

A number of students from Williams College have also presented
to us a large and valuable collection of Echinoderms, made by them
during a vacation trip on the coast of Labrador. From Mr. Allen, at
Key West, Florida, we have also received valuable and numerous
specimens ; and Dr. Worthen has sent us a fine collection of shells
from the Upper Mississippi; and Mr. Slack, a collection of birds from
Minnesota. Mr. Cutting of the Aquarial Garden, in Boston, has pre-
sented to the Museum all the valuable specimens that have died in

his establishment.

An invoice is dailyrexpected from Zanzibar from M. J. Cook, Esq.,
who has now been residing there for a year past, for the express pur-
pose of collecting ; and Mr. Miiller in Australia, and Mr. Lucerda
from Porto Rico, have announced invoices from both these localities.
Mr. Theodore Lyman, now travelling in Europe, has sent several in-
voices of specimens to the Museum, and he is extending the system
of exchanges between our Museum and those of the Old World.

The assistants of the Museum and the students of the Lawrence
Scientific School, who now work in the Museum, are constantly add-
ing to our collections during their vacations, and I owe special thanks

76 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [ Feb.

in this respect to F. W. Putnam, S. Scudder, A. Agassiz, as well as
to Messrs. Rice, Bowditch, Bickmore, and Morse.

An important excursion to the island of Anticosti, the results of
which were very valuable to the Museum, was undertaken last sum-
mer by three of our students, Messrs. Verrill, Shaler, and Hyatt, with
the special purpose of determining the position and relations of the
geological beds there. The valuable collection made by them, in-
cluding some fifty barrels of fossil specimens, is exceedingly interesting
as affording materials for the determination of certain gevlogical ques-
tions now in dispute. They brought back also a large collection
from the ‘present fauna of this little-known island, and also large
numbers of the incubated eggs of the several species of sea-birds
breeding in that region, which formed a considerable addition to the
embryological collection of the Museum. Sir Edmund Head, Governor-
General of Canada, had the kindness to provide these young gentlemen
with introductions to the local officials, which were of great service to
them, and they were indebted to Captain M. Small, and to Mr. U. S.
Treat, of Eastport, for much assistance in the labor of collecting.

Professor Marcou has also explored the lowest fossiliferous beds of
Vermont and Canada, and has secured very interesting fossils for the
Museum, which are the more valuable since they establish beyond
question the existence of an independent fauna below the Potsdam
sandstone.

The cataloguing of the Museum is proceeding as rapidly as the dif-
ficulty of the task will allow, and beside the mere inventories, special
monographs have been prepared of the Ophiurans, by Mr. Theodore
Lyman, of the Etheostomoids, by Mr. F. W. Putnam, and of the
Scizenoids, by Mr. S. H. Scudder, all of which are ready for publica-
tion. A revision of the species of Holconoti has already been pub-
lished by Mr. A. Agassiz.

The ethnographical collection is slowly improving. A fine series of
Indian antiquities has been presented by Mr. J. T. Bateman, from the
Cherokee graves on the Rio Grande, and Mr. Theodore Lyman has
sent us from Europe a great number of photographs of the human
races. Mr. Hansen has also presented to the Museum some imple-
ments of the South Sea Islanders.

Since the last of September, 1860, to the beginning of this month,

a ee ae

“~ %

ee

ee

1862. | MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 17

one hundred and fifteen can-boxes, containing about one hundred
and fifty cans, have been sent out for collections. These cans have
been distributed among thirty-two persons. During the same period
seventy-five can-boxes have been returned to the Museum, sent in by
twenty different collectors. There remain now unreturned, three cans
sent during 1859, ninety-one cans sent out during 1860 (distributed
among fifteen persons, most of whom are at such a distance that it is
hardly time to expect their collections), and fifty-nine cans sent out
during 1861 and distributed among sixteen different collectors; mak-
ing in all, one hundred and fifty-three cans distributed among thirty-
four different persons, which have not yet been returned.

The principal additions to the collections of Mammalia and Birds,
consist of seventeen barrels and two hundred bottles, not yet divided
off, chiefly from the Aquarial Garden, from the Cape of Good Hope,
and from China. |

To the collection of Reptiles, eighty-eight species, forty-five of which
are new to the collection, have been added, represented by two
hundred and seventy-one specimens. The most important among
these are those presented by Mr. Ward, from Egypt.

The total number of specimens of Fishes received amounts to five
thousand, comprising one thousand different species, the most im-
portant of which are those from the Kings Mills and the Society
Islands, collected by Mr. Garret, and from San Francisco, collected
by Mr. Cary, and those sent from Cuba, the Bahamas, and Florida, by
Professor Poey, Dr. Holder, Mr. F. G. Shaw, and Mr. Aviles. The
collection made in the Arabian Gulf, by Captain Millet, though small,
is very rich in singular forms. on

To. the collection of Insects, four thousand two hundred and sixty-
one specimens, representing one thousand one hundred and sixty-one
species, have been added, most of them sent by Dr. Imhoff.

To the collection of Crustacea, two thousand five hundred specimens
have been added, representing five hundred and eighty-four species ;
the most important are the type specimens from the Smithsonian In-
stitution, and the collections sent from the Kings Mills and Society
Islands, and from China by Mr. Garret and Captain Putnam.

To the collection of Worms, three hundred and ten specimens of
annelids, representing fifty-five species, have been added, chiefly pre-
sented by A. Agassiz.

78 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. _ [Feb.

To the collection of Mollusks, ten thousand specimens have been
added, about one half of which are preserved in alcohol, comprising
about one thousand species.

To the collection of Echinoderms, nine hundred and fifty specimens,
representing one hundred and fifteen species, have been added, most
of which are preserved in alcohol. The most interesting of these are
from Zanzibar, sent by Mr. Webb, Captain Webb, and Captain Millet ;
from the Society Islands, sent by Mr. Garret ; from California, sent by

T. G. Cary, Esq. ; from Fayal, sent by Mr. and Miss Dabney; and a
large number of original specimens, sent by Professor Valenciennes of -
the Jardin des Plantes. ;

To the collection of Acalephs, seventy-two species have been added,
and a large number of original specimens of @orals, described by Pro-
fessor Dana, and presented by the Smithsonian Institution.

More detailed lists of these additions are annexed to this Report, in
which the number of specimens obtained from all the donors who have
liberally contributed to the increase of our Museum is enumerated.
[These lists are omitted here.]

During the past year, much has also been done respecting the ar-
rangement of the collections, and as I have already given an account
of the general plan of the Museum in a former Report, I propose now
to lay before you the plan of the arrangement of that part of the col-
lection which is nearly completed. I deem it the more important to
explain it fully, as my experience with other museums has satisfied me
that collections of Natural History are less useful for study, in pro-
. portion as they are more extensive. .

This may seem paradoxical, yet it is undoubtedly true; for while
the most extensive collections answer admirably the purposes of pro-
fessional naturalists for special researches and original investigations
they are generally beyond the grasp of less advanced students, and
cease to be instructive at all for the largest number of visitors of such
establishments. In arranging our collections, which are intended at
the same time to be instructive for the million and to afford the
amplest material for any kind of scientific investigations, it. has been
my aim to combine these two objects ; and as nothing of the kind has
yet been attempted in any large museum, as far as I’ know, a detailed
account of the plan, as adopted in our Museum, may be welcome to

1862. ] MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 19

others. But as each class of animals requires a special treatment in
a well-appointed museum, I propose this year to speak only of the
arrangement of the Radiata, as these are the most advanced in our
exhibition rooms.

With the view of fostering the systematic study of these animals,
and laying before the student in the smallest possible space the best
ascertained results respecting their affinities, in the present state of
our science, I have arranged special systematic collections, intended
solely to exhibit the natural affinities of the members of the several
classes. These systematic collections embrace carefully chosen repre-

- sentatives of all the genera; but with the view of making such col-

lections as compact as possible, only one species of each genus has
been introduced from each well-characterized zodlogical province, fre-
quently to the exclusion of a large number of species which would only
bewilder the student in his first attempt to master the natural affini-
ties of the representatives of any given class. With this systematic
collection are combined all the preparations intended to illustrate the
structural characters of the genera, the peculiarities of form which
distinguish the different families, the complication of structure char-
acteristic of the orders, as well as the mode of execution of the
structure of the class as a whole.

Next to the systematic collections, I have begun to make special
faunal collections, chiefly intended to facilitate the study of the spe-
cies and their geographical distribution. Thus removing from the
systematic collection everything which relates to the study of species,
I hope to impress upon our students more forcibly than is generally
the case, the real importance of a proper investigation of the various
degrees and different kinds of affinities which bind all animals into a
great systematic whole. These faunal collections have another ad-
vantage ; they bring distinctly before the eye the character of the
inhabitants of different parts of the world in their natural combina-
tions, and that in a far more impressive manner than can possibly be
attained by a mere nominative enumeration of species. To add to the
interest of these faunal collections, I have placed here everything that
may illustrate the peculiarities of the species, and have therefore taken
care that they should embrace large numbers of specimens, in every
possible state of growth. The attempt at arranging these collections

80 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

has already convinced me of their great importance. Our knowledge
of the range of the natural faune is very imperfect, and I have found
it impossible to adopt, without modifications, any of the proposed
divisions of the earth’s surface into zodlogical provinces. The divi-
sions thus far proposed show plainly that they were circumscribed by
physical considerations, and not by the special study of the range and
distribution of the animals themselves. However, by the very attempt
to place side by side, in a methodical order, all the representatives of
adjoining faunz, I have gradually been led to define more accurately the
natural limits of the faunz themselves. It is surprising to me that
the principle by which faunz may be defined has not yet been stated,
although it is very simple. It may thus’be expressed : the geograph-
ical range of representative species occupying adjoining regions marks
the natural boundaries of their respective fauna.

Since in our days it is no longer possible to study the animal king-
dom without including in the investigation the remains of past geo-
logical ages, the question has naturally arisen, what disposition to
make of the fossils. After mature consideration, I have come to the
conclusion, that for their most suitable arrangement it was indispen-
sable to make also two kinds of collections of the fossil remains. In
one of them, which corresponds to the systematic collection of the
living animals, they are arranged systematically, according to the
natural affinities of the different representatives of each geological
period, in such a manner that the zodlogical character of these epochs
is shown as distinctly to the eye of the student as the character of
the present creation, by the study of the systematic collection of the
living animals. With the aid of these collections, special zodlogical
treatises of each period may be compiled without difficulty ; and I
have already satisfied myself that a comparison of those collections
furnishes much information respecting the true affinities of animals.

The second kind of collections of fossils is arranged in a way which
corresponds to the faunal collections of living animals ; that is to say,
according to their geographical distribution during each successive
geological epoch. This arrangement has enabled me to display by
themselves the more extensive collections of fossils, obtained from
particular localities, in their characteristic mode of association, without
crowding them upon the attention of the beginner, or giving them,

—— a

re ee

—

1862. ] MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. _ 81

by their larger number, an undue preponderance in the collection of
the epoch to which they belong. But there is another advantage in
making special faunal collections of fossils; they suggest comparisons
with the faune of the present time which could not otherwise be made
so effectively. Thus far geologists, in identifying the horizons of the
successive deposits forming the stratified crust of our globe, have
started from the universally accepted assumption that animals, of the
same geological age are either identical or closely allied over the most
extensive areas. Nothing can be further from the truth than such a
view, and we need only to compare the faunz of the present period
in remote continents to see how widely these differ. If the remains
of past ages, belonging to the same geological periods, have generally
appeared to be identical or closely allied, it is chiefly owing to the
fact that they have been collected in the same geographical zones ;
and at present we find a similar agreement between the living animals
of the temperate zone of Europe, Asia, and North America. But
when we pass to other zones, the scene is entirely changed ; and so it
was in former ages, as we already know from the tertiary mammalia
of South America and of Australia, and this, I have no doubt, will be
found to be also the case for the older formations, within certain
limits, not yet ascertained. The specific differences between the
remains of the same age, found in deposits remote from each other,
are daily brought out more distinctly ; and since I have begun to com-
pare the fossils of America with those of Europe, I am gradually led
to infer that no specific identity is likely to be established, finally, be-
tween animals which have lived at great distances from one another, .
even though they were contemporaries. The doctrine of the iden-
tity of fossils of the same age will therefore require great modifi-
cations. I am already certain that species of the same family, belong-
ing to different epochs, but found in corresponding zones of latitude,
are frequently much more closely allied than species of the same age
belonging to different zones. The time is therefore fast approaching
when zodlogical affinity alone will no longer be a trustworthy criterion °
of contemporaneity, nor zodlogical difference, however striking, be taken
as evidence of a difference in geological age. This unexpected and
probably to many most unwelcome result, I have obtained by a care-
ful comparison of many faune of past ages, arranged in the manner
6

82 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

above indicated. If this should tendér the identification of rocks, by
the aid of the fossils they contain, more difficult for those not very
familiar with zodlogy, it will on the other hand afford most instruc-
tive evidences of the successtve changes the animal creation has wn-
dergone upon different parts of the eatth’s surface at different periods,
and show how, in eaflier ages, combinations of living beings existed
in certain parts of the globe quite distinet froth those now occupying
the same localities, and yet quite similar to those existing in the

present time in other regions. I need only allude to the similarity of — }

sonre of the extinct fauna of the jufassie period to the living fauna of
Australia, to make this statement clear ; and sitnilar resemblances may
be traced between the extinct faunee of other periods and the living
fawnee of other parts of the world. As one itistance, already pointed
out on another occasion, I may allude to the resemblance of the ex-
tinct fauna and flora of Oettingen with that of the temperate zone of
the Atlantic States of North America.

A third kind of collections embraces everything that may illustrate
the mode of reproduction, and the embryonic growth of each class.
Here are placed together eg¢s and embryos in various stages of de-
velopment, and young animals which have ‘not yet completed their
growth and assumed their ‘specific characteristics. But these collec-
tions do not include the preparations intended to illustrate the organs
of reproduction ‘themselves, as characteristic of the different futnilies
in the adult state; these are referred to the general, systematic collec-
tion.

An objection may perhaps be made to such an arrangement of a
museum, aS requiring a larger number of specitnens than ate géh-
erally exhibited im a systematic collection, embracing in one'seriés the
whole animal kingdom. It would certainly be a gteat mistake ‘to
neglect these multiplied modes of instruction, even were it true that
they entail the necessity of preserving @ larger number of specitnens,
and may lead to sotwe waste of rooth. I ath satisfied, however, ‘that
with a proper attention in the selection of the specimens intended as
representatives of the genera in the systematic collection, no unneces-
sary tepetitions need be made. I have been ateful everywhere to
avoid the introduction of large specimens in the systematic collection,
m order to render them more comprehensive, ‘and to bring, at a

a Oe ee

1862.] MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 83

glance, a whole class under the eye; while the bulk of specimens,
illustrating the species, is referred to the faunal collections. And I
need not repeat here what I have stated again and again, on other
occasions, that the great deficiency of other museums, and especially
of the large public collections, consists in the scanty representation of
the species, and the monotony with which a single male and female,
or sometimes even a single specimen, are allowed to be the only pro-
vision made for the study of an animal which, to be well known, ought
to be examined in an ample series of specimens of all ages, of both
sexes, and in every possible state of preservation. What are fre-
quently called characteristic specimens, and paraded singly as types,
are but too often thus set aside by unscientific keepers of museums, in
erder that they may have an opportunity of disposing of other speci-
mens for exchanges, and thus increasing the nominal number of the
_ species in their collections.

The arrangement alluded to above has thus far only been partially
carried out in our Museum, from want of room to display the collec-
tions, and from want of time and assistants needed to accomplish the
immense amount of work and research rendered necessary by such an
arrangement. But I may already point out the classes of Polypi and
Echinoderms, as showing what the Museum may be, when its organ-
ization is further advanced ; and it is but justice to those concerned
to state, that Mr. A. E. Verrill has been intrusted with the details of
the arrangement of the Corals, and Mr. A. Agassiz with that of the
Echinoderms, The classes most advanced, next to these, are that of
the Fishes, of which Mr. F. W. Putnam has charge, and the Mollusks,
upon which Messrs. Morse, Hyatt, and Shaler are engaged. The
arrangement of the Crustacea was also well advaneed, when the war
deprived me of the efficient assistance of Mr. Ordway. The prelimi-
nary arrangement of the Insects, begun by my son and now intrusted
to Mr. Scudder, is advancing slowly, and yet as satisfactorily as could
be expected, where such large numbers of specimens are concerned.
In the arrangement of the fossil Cephalopods, which is nearly com-
plete, Mr. Hyatt has shown much perseverance and devotion to the
Museum. Among the Worms, my son has arranged the Annelids,
but the Helminths await still a trustworthy curator. Messrs. Bick-
more and Bowditch have made a considerable number of preparations

84 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [ Feb.

of Echinoderms. It is with deep regret I have to mention the inter-
rupted arrangement of the class of Reptiles, and its backward condi-
tion. Dr. Wheatland, who had begun its arrangement with much zeal
and success, has been obliged to relinquish his work on account of
ill health. The classes of Mammalia and Birds have, up to the
present time, received least attention, with the exception of what
could be done in collecting materials for future use. But among these
accumulated materials are immense stores of birds’-eggs, so that we
have embryos, preserved in alcohol, of probably a larger number of
species than exist in that state of preservation in any other museum.

I have alluded above to the preparations intended to illustrate the
structure of the different classes of animals. Among these I have to
mention the skeletons prepared by Mr. Guggenheim, of which a very
large number have been added to the class of Fishes during the past
year. But the most interesting and most instructive part of the col
lection at present consists of the many preparations for microscopic
examination, made with rare skill and untiring assiduity by Mr. Wil-
liam Glen. They relate chiefly to the structure of the hard parts of
Polypi, Echinoderms, and Mollusks. The sections of shells and sea-
urchins are unsurpassed. Professor Clark has begun the arrangement
of the Hydroids, of which we have a magnificent collection.

As there are vast numbers of objects which are rather unsightly in
the condition in which they may be preserved in a collection, or which
are naturally too small to be studied to advantage in a museum, with-
out special facilities, I have caused the best representations of these
objects, scattered through all our works on natural history, to be re-
produced, and systematically arranged in diagrams, which will be
placed by the side of the specimens in the rooms of the Museum, as
soon as the necessary furniture for this kind of exhibition shall be
completed. I owe these diagrams to the co-operation of my friend,
Mr. Burkhardt. |

At the close of this enumeration of the collections, it is proper that
I should mention, also, the fact that all the stores of specimens which
are not yet arranged for exhibition, and which exceed by far the num-
ber of specimens already placed on the shelves, have been carefully
examined, and the condition of each specimen ascertained, and that
the whole is perfectly safe and well stored. This has been a most

1862. | MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 85

unpleasant and laborious task, the extent of which may be appre-
ciated, when I say that Mr. Putnam alone has revised about 60,000
specimens of fishes preserved in alcohol, and that Messrs. A. Agassiz
and Putnam have recently unpacked and distributed, according to

their families, the contents of more than two hundred barrels of alco-

holic specimens.

During the past year, another important apparatus for the illustra-
tion of specimens of natural history has been added to our establish-
ment, —I allude to the photograph-room organized by Mr. Glen, —
but, from want of time, only a few experiments have thus far been
made to reproduce microscopic preparations. But, if we have not yet
been able to do much ourselves in that direction, a collection of pho-
tographs is nevertheless begun, thanks to the kindness of Professor
Valenciennes, who has sent me a number of those illustrations, made
at the Jardin des Plantes, and of Mr. Theodore Lyman, who has for-
warded a large number of photographs, representing the different
races of men, made chiefly from casts, collected during the several
scientific expeditions round the world, directed by the government of
France for the last half-century,

86 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

[B.]

TRUSTEES OF THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY.
1862.

Tue GOVERNOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH,

JOHN A. ANDREW.
Tur. LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR,

JOHN NESMITH.
THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE,

JOHN H. CLIFFORD.
Tue SPEAKER OF THE House oF REPRESENTATIVES,

A. H. BULLOCK,
Tue SECRETARY OF THE BoAaRD oF EDUCATION,

JOSEPH WHITE.
Tue Curer oF THE SUPREME JUDICIAL CouRT,

GEORGE T. BIGELOW.

LOUIS AGASSIZ. ~ WILLIAM GRAY.
JACOB BIGELOW, . NATHANIEL THAYER,
JAMES WALKER, SAMUEL HOOPER,
GEORGE TICKNOR, SAMUEL G. WARD,

JAMES LAWRENCE.

OFFICERS OF THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY FOR
1862.

His Excellency Joun A. ANDREW, Governor of the Commonwealth,
President.

Witiiam Gray, Secretary.

SamuEL G. Warp, Treasurer.

Louis Acassiz, Director of the Museum.

SamvureL Hooper, JosepH Wuitr, NATHANIEL THAYER, JAMES
LAWRENCE, Committee on Finance.

GrorcE Ticknor, Louis AcGassiz, JAcoB Bigetow, GrorcE T.
BigEeLow, Committee on the Museum.

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