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ANNUAL REPORT
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OF THE

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T G REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR,

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BOSTON:
«WRIGHT & POTTER, STATE PRINTERS

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1869.

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; WRIGHT & POTTER, STATE PRINTERS,
79 Mitk STREET, (CORNER OF FEDERAL.)

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Conmmonwealtl of Massachusetts.

Boston, January 27, 1869.
To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives.

The Trustees of the Museum of Comparative Zodlogy respect-
fully present the Annual Report of the Director for the past
year, marked [A.]

The paper marked [B] contains a list of the Trustees, their
officers and committees, for 1869.

The past year has been distinguished by a grant of the legis-
lature of $75,000, payable in three annual instalments, condi-
tioned on the raising by subscription, of like sums.

The first $25,000 has been obtained, and the perio s
$25,000 has been received from the State.

' The Trustees propose to devote the money thus obtained
from the State to an enlargement of the Museum building.

For the Trustees,

THEODORE LYMAN,
Secretary, pro tem.

4 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

[A.]
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR

OF THE

MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY.

For THE YEAR 1868.

This year has been a memorable one in the history of our
institution. When I prepared my report for the year 1867, it
was under the depressing conviction that unless a large sum
could be promptly obtained, the labor of years would be made
of no avail, and the value of the materials collected in the
Museum so impaired for want of the means essential to their
preservation, that they would become in a great degree useless.
By the intelligent liberality of the legislature, who took this
matter into earnest and thoughtful consideration, and the gen-
erous co-operation of individuals, this danger is averted. I
have never felt so hopeful of the future of the institution which
has so long been my care as now. With the prospect for the
next three years of an income large enough to secure the aid
of competent assistants in the different departments, we shall
be able to put our immense collections in complete order, and
to enlarge the building sufficiently to exhibit all our specimens
in their true relations. I hope that in three years any intelli-
gent observer will be able to say that a mere walk through our
Museum teaches him something of the geographical distribu-
tion of animals, of their history in past ages, of the laws con-
trolling their growth as they now exist, and of their mutual
affinities ; in short, that the whole will be so combined as to
illustrate all that science has thus far deciphered of the plan of
creation. This is my hope, and it is shared by the efficient

1869.] SENATE—No. 60. 5

corps of assistants on whose co-operation I largely depend for
its fulfilment. All the efforts of the officers of the Museum
now tend toward such an arrangement of the collections as will
render their exhibition advantageous and prompt. For a long
time all those engaged with me have, at the sacrifice of their
personal advantage, and with the most praiseworthy zeal and
abnegation, devoted their time to labors rather manual than
intellectual, yet of a kind which, from their very nature, require
a trained workman,—one who has an extensive familiarity with
objects of natural history. It is the misfortune of naturalists

_ that so little of the distasteful and purely manual work con-

nected with their studies can be performed by more ignorant
assistants. In the laboratory, the investigator must be his own

servant. My associates in the task of organizing the Museum

have shrunk from no sacrifice of this kind.

When the whole collection is so arranged that any specimen
required for investigation can be reached with ease, and without
loss of time, we shall all be rewarded by the comparative facil-
ity for original research. I may add, that this is an advantage
by which, according to the policy adopted by our institution,
not only our small corps of investigators, but all students of
natural history throughout the scientific world, will profit.
This assertion is justified by the readiness with which speci-
mens have been sent out from the Museum wherever they were
wanted by any one engaged in original researches whose scien-
tific character made him worthy of our confidence. Assistance
of this kind has been given whenever it has been in our power
to afford it. I only lament that the bulk of our materials, so
heaped together for want of room as to make them often inac-
cessible, and the very limited number of assistants in past
years, so that there were not hands enough to put up the special
collections to be sent abroad, have prevented us from exercising
this liberality so largely, and with such promptness, as we hope
to do hereafter.

At the last meeting of the Board of Trustees, a vote was
passed devoting the $75,000 granted to the Museum by the
legislature of 1868, to the extension of the present building.
While I rejoice in the prospect of this new building, as afford-
ing the means for a complete exhibition of the specimens now
stored in our cellars and attics, and encumbering every room of

6 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

the present edifice, I yet can hardly look forward to the time
when we shall be in possession of it, without shrinking from
the grandeur of our undertaking. The past history of our
science rises before me with its lessons. Thinking men, in
every part of the world, have been stimulated to grapple with
the infinite variety of problems connected with the countless
animals scattered without apparent order throughout sea and
land. They have been led to discover the affinities of various
degrees and different kinds, which bind together this host of
living beings. The past has yielded up its secrets, and has
shown them that the animals now peopling the earth are but
the successors of countless populations which have preceded
them, and whose remains are buried in the crust of our globe.
Farther study has revealed relations between the animals of
past time and those now living, and between the law of succes-
sion in the former and the laws of growth and distribution in
the latter, so intimate and comprehensive that this labyrinth of
organic life assumes the character of a connected history, which
opens before us with greater clearness in proportion as our
knowledge increases. But when the museums of the Old World
were founded, these relations were not even suspected. The
collections of natural history gathered at immense expense in
the great centres of human civilization, were accumulated
mainly as an evidence of man’s knowledge and skill in exhib-
iting to the best advantage not only the animals, but products
and curiosities of all sorts, from various parts of the world.
While we admire and emulate the industry and perseverance of
the men who collected these materials, and did in the best way
the work which it was possible to do in their time for science,
we have no longer the right to build museums after this fashion.
The originality and vigor of one generation become the subser-
vience and indolence of the next, if we do but repeat the work
of our predecessors. They prepared the ground for us by accu-
mulating the materials for extensive comparison and research.
They presented the problem; we ought to be ready with the
solution. If I mistake not, the great object of our museums
should be to exhibit the whole animal kingdom as a manifesta-
tion of the Supreme Intellect. Scientific investigation in our
day should be inspired by a purpose as animating to the general
sympathy as was the religious zeal which built the cathedral of

1869.] SENATE—No. 60. 7

Cologne or the basilica of St. Peter’s. The time is past when
men expressed their deepest convictions by these wonderful and
beautiful religious edifices; but it is my hope to see, with the
progress of intellectual culture, a structure arise among us
which may be a temple of the revelations written in the mate-
rial universe. If this be so, our buildings for such an object
can never be too comprehensive, for they are to embrace the
infinite work of Infinite Wisdom. They can never be too costly,
so far as cost secures permanence and solidity, for they are to
contain the most instructive documents of Omnipotence.

From the earliest organization of the Museum I have had
three great objects in view. First, to express in material forms
the present state of our knowledge of the animal kingdom ;
second, to make it a centre of original research, where men
who were engaged in studying the problems connected with
natural history should find all they needed for comparative
investigation; thirdly,—and this last object has been by no
means less prominent than the two others, but, if possible, has
engrossed my thoughts more,—to make it an educational insti-
tution ; to give it a wide-spread influence upon the study, the
love and the knowledge of nature throughout the country. I
have wished—and I think the time is fast approaching when I
shall be able to make this wish more completely a reality than
it has hitherto been—to have the most various and extensive
practical instruction in natural history going on there under
the personal direction of the officers of the Museum in the dif-
ferent laboratories, and at the same time to have courses of
lectures of a more general character, and open to all, upon
natural history in its various aspects, geology, paleontology,
general and special zodlogy, embryology, comparative anat-
omy, &c.

I have labored under many obstacles in the carrying out of
this scheme. Often, for want of means to pay salaries, the
assistants have been so few, and their knowledge so immature,
that it was impossible to organize any extensive scheme of
instruction. Often, too, we have been so overwhelmed by the
amount of labor to be performed by some three or four men,
that I have hesitated to diminish the working force of the Mu-
seum for a less pressing, though not less important aim. Ney-
ertheless, ever since the Museum has been in existence, two

8 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

annual courses of lectures have been delivered there by myself,
except when illness or necessary absence have occasionally
interrupted them; while from time to time other courses, and
very valuable ones, have been given by the gentlemen connected
with the Museum. We have always had, also, a certain num-
ber of students pursuing special studies in the laboratories.
This has been well, as far as it went; but the case is now very
different. With very able men as assistants ;.with a distribu-
tion of labor which makes the work of the Museum itself easier,
it is now possible to arrange a very complete system of general
and special instruction. The programme for the current year
embraces seven courses of lectures, and practical instruction,
- covering nearly the whole range of natural history. We hope
to make it more comprehensive in proportion as some of those
mature investigators who can act both as scientific assistants
and as lecturers are drawn into our ranks.

During the past winter, the lectures have consisted of an able
course from Mr. Perry, on the geology of Lake Champlain,
including a description of the geological formation of Vermont,
and especially a critical discussion of the controversy concern-
ing the Taconic system. Mr. Shaler has also given a full and
interesting course on paleontology, illustrating chiefly the gra-
dation of organized beings throughout the series of geological
formations. J have myself given a course on the natural his-
tory of Radiates. Of the latter I would say a few words.
Since it may not be in my power to publish for some time the
results upon which this course was founded, I wish to submit
them summarily here, though they do not perhaps properly —
belong in this very general report of the Museum affairs. The
object of this course was to show the strict homology pervading
the structure of all Radiates, including the Echinoderms as
well as the Polyps and Acalephs, or the so-called Coelenterata.
This identity of structure being proved, the division of the —
Radiates into two distinct types, now adopted by most zodl-
ogists, becomes unnatural. The argument rests upon facts, for
it can be clearly shown that the chambers of the Polyps, sep-
arated by their radiating partitions, are homologically identical
with the radiating tubes of the Acalephs, and with the ambu-
lacral system of the Echinoderms. These three classes form,
structurally speaking, one and the same type. Moreover, these

1869. ] SENATE—No. 60. 9

homologies are circumscribed within the type of Radiates, and
can by no means be extended beyond it; so that it may be said
that the structure of Radiates is sui generis incompatible with
the idea of any genetic relation between that and any other
type of the animal kingdom. I also showed that the embryonic
growth of all these animals is conformable, even the seemingly
bi-lateral symmetry of the larval form of the Echinoderms,
upon which Miller insisted so tenaciously, being as truly a
radiate structure in its typical character as the Spatangoids,
which also seem bi-lateral. I also compared the succession of
this type in time with the growth of its present representatives
in their embryonic condition, and carried out this illustration
especially for the Crinoids; showing that in its successive
transformations the Comatula passes through stages which,
from their resemblance to the full grown Crinoids of earlier
ages, I designated as the Cistidian, the Pentremitian, the Plat-
yerinian, the Pentacrinian, and the Comatuline stages of growth.
These phases of development coincide with the order of suc-
cession of the types of the same name in the geological ages.
It was farther shown that even the Ophiurans, the Aste-
rians and the Echinoids have also their Crinoidal stages of
growth, while their earliest embryonic forms recall in like man-
ner the Polyps and Acalephs. Beside these courses of lectures
Dr. Hagen has been training a few special students in ento-
mology, and I have directed the private exercises in other
departments.

As in the preceding year, Mr. Allen has had general charge
of the Mammalia and Birds, and, as may be seen from his
special report, he has greatly improved the condition of the
collections entrusted to him. But the work is too extensive
for one person, and I hope to divide it during the present year.

The collection of Reptiles has not been placed under the care
of a special assistant during the past year. It is in a safe state
of preservation, and for the distribution of specimens into sep-
arate jars, according to their species, I have thought it best to
await the return of the numerous specimens entrusted to Pro-
fessor Cope for identification. For the Batrachians, however,
this task of division and distribution is already begun, and is
going on under the charge of my son, Alexander Agassiz.

2

10 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

As usual, I have had the collection of Fishes under my special
care, and, though an immense amount of work has been
bestowed upon their arrangement, not by myself alone, but also
by Dr. Staheli, Mr. Bliss, and Mr. Lockwood, under my direc-
tion, yet it seems as if the task grew, instead of diminishing
under our hands. The specimens contained in thirty-nine kegs
and barrels have been put up in glass jars, and distributed
according to their species. Dr. Stiheli has revised some 10,000

jars, containing the work of former years, and yet not half the —

collection has undergone more than a preliminary arrangement.
I have, however, begun monographic examinations of the Gon-
iodonts, the Characines and the Gymnonotes, and Mr. Bliss has
also made a beginning with the Chromids; while Mr. Lock-
wood has been assisting me in the arrangement of the Char-
acines, and Dr. Stiheli assorting the species contained in bar-
rels. This work will be continued during the present year,
with additional aids, and I have some hope of being able to
complete the distribution of the whole collection in glass jars,
though at this moment there remain three hundred and sixteen
barrels of fishes unarranged in the store room.

Mr. Theodore Lyman, who has charge of the fisheries of the
State, has added to our collections in this department an inval-
uable series of young fishes; especially of the family of Sal-
monide and Clupeoids. ‘These specimens have been bred arti-
- ficially in different parts of the country, and the value of the
gift is greatly increased by minute information concerning their
age, the conditions of their growth, &c. As often as possible,
the specimens have been brought alive to the Museum, and have
been drawn and painted from the life by Mr. Paul Roetter.
We may in course of time have ample materials for a compar-
ative embryological history of these families. I have already
communicated to the National Academy some of my observa-
tions upon the early stages of growth of the salmon, and Mr.
Lyman is now engaged upon a comparative study of the differ-
ent species of salmon living in our waters.

The collection of Articulates has been not only overhauled
in all its parts, but Dr. Hagen has completed a monograph of
the North American Astaci, and has carried forward the gen-
eral arrangement of the insects, which are put up according to
the plan proposed by himself, and which I have sanctioned the

1869. ] SENATE—No. 60. 11

more readily, as it includes the simultaneous exhibition of the
larval condition of these animals, as well as their perfect state.

Mr. Anthony has been constantly busy this year, as during
so many previous ones, in the arrangement of the living shells,
and has brought this part of our collections nearer to its final
order than any other in the Museum. More than 17,000 tablets
are now ready for systematic arrangement and for exhibition
as soon as the new building is completed. The separation of a
special systematic collection and of faunal collections, deter-
mined according to an investigation of their range of distribu-
tion, and not, as is so often the case, based only upon a consid-
eration of the physical character of the country in which they
occur, has been fully carried out, and may in future serve as a
guide for the arrangement of other types. And yet a very
important part of the work remains to be done. The species
are labelled according to the names under which they were first
described, and this was done with the view of securing authen-
tic identification.

It will require a vast amount of research in the ultimate
arrangement, to ascertain what are the generic relations of
each and all of these species, as also to determine the family
affinities of the genera. The combination of the families into
natural orders is hardly begun. Mr. Blake is now engaged in
drawing the characteristic features of the soft parts of our
fresh water mollusks, with a view to illustrate the systematic
collection.

Messrs. Theodore Lyman and Alexander Agassiz share the
work upon the final arrangement of the Radiates. The explo-
ration of the deep-sea fauna of the Gulf Stream, undertaken
by Mr. Pourtales at the direction of the superintendent of the
coast survey, has brought to light an unexpected number of
new species. The results of this valuable investigation were?’
given by Mr. Pourtales in the last two numbers of the Museum
Bulletin.

The institution is indebted to Professor Peirce for the pre-
sentation of all the specimens collected during these explora-
tions, the duplicates of which will be distributed to other insti-
tutions as soon as they are completely assorted.

The fossils have been entrusted to the care of three different
assistants. Mr. Shaler has had general charge of the whole

i

12 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

collection, but has given his special attention to the arrange-
ment of the bivalve shells. Mr. Perry has had charge of the
tertiary fossils in general, but has been especially occupied with
the arrangement of the Gasteropods. Mr. Lesquereux has
been engaged upon the fossil plants. The reports of these gen-
tlemen have left me little to add concerning the condition of
these collections. I have to lament my inability thus far to
provide for the arrangement of the fossil vertebrates, but I hope
to remedy this deficiency in the course of the present year. I
regret the neglect of these collections the more deeply because
they contain a considerable number of rare and valuable speci-
mens. The magnificent series of Dinornis, for instance, which
the Museum owes to the liberality of Dr. Haast, will be one of
its greatest ornaments, whenever these specimens can be
mounted.

Report on the Fossil Plants of the Museum of Comparative
Zoélogy, by L. LEesQuerEux.

The work done this year to increase, arrange and improve
the collections of fossil plants of the Museum is scarcely impor-
tant enough to furnish materials for a report. But as it is
essential, not only to mark the progress of the collections, but
also to indicate the means of increasing them, and of render-
ing those already acquired more useful, and therefore more
valuable, it is proper, to say a few words of the actual state of
the department of botanical paleontology, by reporting what
has been done in it this year, and what should have been done
under more favorable circumstances.

The report of the past year mentions, § 11, page 15, a num-
ber of specimens still in boxes in the magazine, which, from
want of place, had not been exhibited, and which were still
undetermined. The examination of these specimens has been
completed this year, and all have been provided with labels
bearing specific names, together with the names of the donors
or former proprietors of the specimens, and indications of the
localities whence they were obtained. At the same time, they
have been assorted according to the age of the formations to
which they belong.

1869. ] SENATE—No. 60. 13

Some of these specimens are valuable in themselves, as rep-
resenting rare or new species; some others, like those obtained
from Messrs. Lyell, Bronn and Marcou, and which mostly
compose this collection, have a historical value, and are precious
as mementoes of some of the most celebrated geologists of our
time.

The distribution of these specimens according to the forma-
tions to which they are referable, and to their original propri-
etors, is as follows :-—

Tertiary, Bronn’s collection, ; ; 92 specimens.
tf Duval’s as , : 4T 6
Cretaceous, Bronn’s ‘“ ’ : 35 $4
Lias (of Virginia, by Mr. Wheeler,) , ; 30 3
Carboniferous, Bronn’s collection, : 82
= mostly from Lyell’s elastin. 123 “
Devonian and Silurian, Marcou’s “A : 20 ie
Specimens of coal and lignite, Bronn’s
collection, F 25 aA
Specimens of fossil oy 4 of tier pallid:
Bronn’s collection, . ‘ : : ; 18 a
Total amount of specimens, . - 472

It was surmised in the former report that the Museum could
this year obtain a large supply of specimens from Morris and
Mazon Creek, Illinois, two contiguous localities, with strata
identical in geological horizon and lithological characters, and
which have become justly celebrated for the beauty of the
specimens of fossil plants which they have furnished to science.
But the want of place for the exhibition of large specimens
prevented our spending money or making special exertions for
increasing the collections of fossil plants. The only acquisition
made for this department of the Museum, therefore, has been
that of a lot of one hundred specimens in concretions, repre-
senting fossil plants from Mazon Creek, with twenty other
specimens from the same place, representing the remains of
animals of the coal measures, especially Crustacea. These,
presented to the Museum by the curator, together with two
specimens of wings of insects from the carboniferous measures

14 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

of Arkansas, are among the rarest fossil remains of that epoch.
Another lot of sixty specimens of fossil plants was obtained by
the curator in Rhode Island, some from the black shales
exposed along the beach at Newport, and the largest number
from the anthracite bed worked ten miles north of Newport, at
Mount Hope coal mines.

The same opportunity is still offered to the Museum of pur-
chasing at a low price a fine collection of fossil plants at New-
port, from the carboniferous measures of Rhode Island, and
another at Morris, essentially composed of specimens in con-
eretions from Mazon Creek. Both these collections would be
already a valuable acquisition for the Museum, if it were merely
on account of the beauty and rarity of the remains of plants
which they contain. But the fossil plants of these localities
are, by their nature and their number, intimately connected
with scientific questions of importance, which they may help to
elucidate. For example, Morris and Mazon Creek have fur-
nished till now, by their fossil remains, the largest number of
species of plants found at the same place, and therefore they
represent, far better than any other local flora, the vegetation
of the carboniferous epoch, and its true character. For this
reason, this fossil flora of Morris is a reliable point of compari-
son for the fossil plants of other deposits, considered either in
their geographical or their stratigraphical distribution. <A
number of specimens are found in ferruginous concretions, in
which even the most delicate species or organs of plants are
preserved ; and it would seem, from the riches of this flora,
that we know as yet only that part of the vegetation of the coal
epoch which is represented by hard, woody vegetables, while
the more delicate ones have been totally destroyed by macera-
tion. “This supposition is confirmed by the number of small
animals, Crustacea, Insects, Saurians, &c., whose remains,
never found till now in the coal measures, are tolerably numer-
ous in the concretions of Mazon Creek. At Newport, or in
Rhode Island generally, where a number of remarkable species
of plants have been discovered, which have not been found
elsewhere in our American carboniferous measures, the vegeta-
ble remains are more or less deformed by metamorphism, either
elongated or contracted in various ways. ‘These remains show
evidently the action of heat on the shales, and on the carbona-

1869.] SENATE—No. 60. 15

ceous matter, while softened by maceration, or rather exhibit
the transition of the vegetable from its natural state to a plastic
one before its hardening by heat and mineralization. The
peculiar dimorphism of the fossil plants of Rhode Island has
not been observed elsewhere, not even in the anthracite basin
of Pennsylvania.

The most important part of the work which, according to the
directions of Professor Agassiz, should have been begun this
year in the Museum, has been left nearly untouched, for reasons
stated below. In the former report, (1867, page 15, § 12,)
allusion has been made to the immense and most valuable col-
lection of palms, fern-trees, and other species of equatorial
plants, carefully selected as most appropriate materials for the
comparative anatomy of the fossil floras of divers formations,
and brought from Brazil to the Museum by its director. To
fulfil the plan suggested, and to give to these specimens their
real value, it is necessary to prepare them as models or samples
for comparison, by making sections in various planes of direc-
tion, in order to show their internal structure, and displaying
some of the surfaces under a high polish, while in others thin,
transparent lamellae should be cut and adjusted under glass for
microscopical examination, &c., &c. Such a work demands
the greatest care, not only in the selection and in the prepara-
tion of the specimens, but also in their arrangement, in order
that every part destined to anatomical comparison, either as a
whole organ or as a part of it, can be easily found and referred
to its proper species and place, without possibility of a mistake.
In attempting to beein the purposed work of preparation, it
became evident—

1. That we had not yet in the Museum instruments which
could be employed for that kind of work, without endangering
the value of the specimens; and

2. That it was impossible to obtain sufficient room to have
all the specimens conveniently disposed for a preliminary exam-
ination. For it is important, before beginning the anatomy of
various species, to have under view all the specimens by which
they are represented, in order to first exactly determine them,
and afterward to select for preparations the parts or organs
most appropriate to the end. As the Brazilian specimens are
mostly of great size,—some of them whole trees, with leaves

16 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

and fruits still attached to them,—this preliminary examination
cannot be made in the limited space left in a garret already full
of heaped materials of various kinds. Moreover, these botan-
ical specimens are all now properly packed, and in that state
their displacement cannot endanger any part of them, while,
once out of the bundles, some essential organs or valuable
parts may be easily detached and lost by removal. Still
another consideration prevented the beginning of this impor-
tant work now. Some of the trees already obtained by the
Museum, and others which it may be convenient to obtain here-
after, should be preserved whole, as much, at least, as it is pos-
sible, for comparison of size, of external character, the bark,
mode of attachment of the leaves, of the fruits, &c., &e. Of
course, these large trunks cannot be piled up in the Museum.
They should be distributed around a special room, and left
standing between rows of cases, or disposed in such a way that
they may serve for ornaments, as well as for objects of instruc-
tion. Such a distribution can be made only on a carefully
devised plan, and when the dimensions of the places destined
for the specimens are known.

These reasons, I hope, will serve as a sufficient excuse for
the postponement of a work which I consider of great impor-
tance if it can be properly conducted, and will account also for
the short duration of my co-operation at the Museum this year.

tl}
Pi

Report on the Library, by Rev. J. B. Terry.

On looking over the Library, I find myself unable, for the
present, to report upon its condition in full. I shall accordingly
confine myself to a few incidental points.

After Mr. Uhler ceased to act as Librarian, and previously
to my taking charge of the Museum collection of books, con-
siderable time elapsed. As no one had special care of the
Library during this interval, books were of course somewhat
misplaced and interchanged. It was consequently my first aim
and effort to restore all such volumes to their proper position,
so far as this could be learned from the several alcove cata-
logues. This work was carried on by slow degrees, as opportu-

1869.] SENATE—No. 60. 17

nities from time to time favored, and odd moments of leisure
rendered the task feasible.

Soon learning by experience the great difficulty of finding
many works needful for reference in the prosecution of my
investigations, and that thus the valuable treasures of the
Library were not so available as they might else and as they
ought to be, I devoted myself for some time outside of the
usual hours of Museum duty, to the dry and thankless task of
supplying the deficiency. Taking the printed catalogue of De
Koninck, I designated in the margin, opposite to the title of
each work, by means of numerals, both the alcove and the shelf
of every volume, monograph and pamphlet, the permanent place
of which was already determined. Having done this much, I
ceased my labors in this direction, as I did not wish to enter
the alcove and shelf of volumes, the permanent places of which
in the Library were still unsettled. This catalogue indicates
the position of about four-fifths of the works belonging to the
De Koninck Library.

Since that time, Dr. Staheli has been busily engaged, when
his other duties would allow, in pushing the arrangement
further, in marking the number of the alcove and shelf of each
work, so far as already determined, on the cards of the topical
catalogue, and at the same time in noting missing volumes and
all such defects as he might observe in the books composing
the several departments of the Library. This work being still
unfinished, a satisfactory statement in regard to the Library as
a whole is out of the question. I hope, however, to be able, in
the next annual report, to give a detailed account of its condi-
tion, of such defects as may then exist, and of many deficien-
cies supplied by additions made during the year.

Report on the Collection of Mollusks, by Joun G. ANTHONY.

At the close of my last year’s labors, I received from the
Director of the Museum the following letter of instructions :—

«Thanks to your industry, the arrangement of the shells in the
Museum is already so far advanced, that I wish henceforth you
should make the identification of our specimens with original speci-
mens of the species described by American conchologists the chief

3

18 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

object of your efforts. It is of the utmost importance that a
reference to our collections should in future afford naturalists the
means of recognizing all the species which have been described in
this country, not only by your cotemporaries, but also by your
predecessors.

“You know how difficult it has become to identify some of the
species described by Say and Rafinesque, and unless proper care is
taken in time to secure what remains of the tradition of the earlier
American conchologists, the task may become hopeless.

“Therefore I would urge that you make a beginning at once.
To this end I would advise you to make an excursion to Phila-
delphia as soon as convenient, and you can ascertain that you may
receive there the necessary aid in your work. I have already once
examined the remnant of Rafinesque’s collection, in the possession
of the late Charles A. Poulson, but I wish you would go over the
same ground, and not limit yourself, as I did, to the Naiades, but
try to identify the other shells described by him. Next to this,
I wish you would compare all the specimens of Say, Barnes and
Ward that.may be preserved in the Academy of Natural Sciences.
Mr. Binney, whose father was a correspondent of those gentlemen,
may assist you in identifying some of their species, of which there
may not be authentic specimens in your own collection. At the
same time you should identify all the species of Dr. Binney which
are in his son’s possession.

“The next most important step would be the comparison of all
the species described by Mr. Isaac Lea with those of the Museum.
No naturalist in America has described and figured so large a num-
ber of species of shells as Mr. Lea. By his untiring industry and
perseverance he has brought to light an astounding variety of fresh-
water mollusks from our extensive river system, entirely unsus-
pected before; in fact, no one has made larger contributions to our
knowledge of the American Naiades. It is therefore of paramount
importance that we should obtain, at any reasonable cost, authentic
specimens of all his species, whenever we have not ourselves speci-
mens which can be identified with his.

“This is a very extensive and laborious task, and I do not sup-
pose that you can accomplish the whole during one visit to Phila-
delphia; but you may get through with one family, say the
Melanizx, the arrangement of which you have lately completed in
the Museum, and make arrangements with him to return to Phila-
delphia and complete the comparison whenever it may suit him to
assist you in the investigation. As we have land and fresh-water
shells in large quantities from localities from which Mr. Lea may

1869.) SENATE—No. 60. 19

have none, you will propose to him exchanges on the most liberal
‘terms for whatever he has that is wanting in our Museum.

“While in Philadelphia, make it also your business to visit the
Academy of Natural Sciences, and identify there whatever original
‘specimens may be in their museum. Do not neglect to interest
Mr. Tryon in your work. He cannot fail to see the advantages
that will accrue to Conchology from your errand, and as editor of
the Conchological Journal, assist you as far as he can. Try to
obtain from him, also, original specimens of all the species he has
himself described, or descriptions of which are contained in his
journal.

“]T shall want you also to visit other cities in which valuable col-
lections exist, especially New York, that you may do the same
work there for the collections of various collectors in that city; and
afterwards Amherst College, to compare the specimens described
by Adams; and then Chicago, to see the originals of Stimpson’s
species; not forgetting Albany, which has been so fortunate as to
secure Dr. Gould’s collection; but with regard to these I shall
write you more fully when the proper time comes.”

In conformity with the foregoing instructions, I made a jour-
ney to New York and Philadelphia, which occupied several
weeks, and during that period examined more or less in detail
the several collections alluded to, gaining thereby much useful
information connected with my department. This visit, how-
ever, could only be considered a preliminary one, several visits
being required to fully carry out all the suggestions contained
in the instructions. It was made, moreover, at a time of the
year when short days and cloudy weather formed strong
impediments to a critical examination of species, and a subse-
quent visit, which was arranged to take place last May, was
prevented by sickness. The plan, however, has not been aban-
doned, but will continue to be borne in mind and steadily pur-
sued to completion.

In order to be prepared to carry out these instructions
properly, much time has been devoted to mounting shells
already on hand, by which means we have attained a better
knowledge of our collection and of our wants. The number of
tablets thus mounted is already very large, amounting to over
17,000 at the present time, and will be greatly increased during
the coming year.

20 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

While laboring in this direction, less attention has been paid
to our exchanges and other means of increasing the collection
than formerly, and we have consequently less to report than
usual in this department. The whole number of packages
received during the past year has been 30, containing 1,523
species and 21,394 specimens from 26 persons.

Some of these packages have contained shells of unusual
interest, deserving more than a passing notice. Among these
we may mention two parcels received from W. G. Binney, Esq.,
one of them containing the type shells used by him in his own
publications, and the other the specimens which his father
referred to while writing his costly and valuable work on the
‘Terrestrial Air-breathing Mollusks of the United States.’
These type specimens, with the author’s labels, are of more
than ordinary interest, advancing as they do one of the special
objects we have in view, viz., the procuring of undoubted
representatives of all described forms of mollusks. In this
way only may we hope to avoid one of the greatest obstacles
the present generation of naturalists labor under in determining
species, it being now impossible in many cases to know what
an author really described, for want of authentic types of his
species.

Another contributor, Mr. Geale, of London, has sent us 92
species of Cyprzea, carefully labelled, from Mr. Cumings’ col-
lection, a collection unrivalled for beauty and perfection of
specimens and accuracy of labels.

One of the most important additions made to our collection
of mollusks during the past year has been by purchase from
Mr. T. Bland, of New York, of his large and carefully labelled
collection of North American land shells, the result of many
years of patient labor on his part, and embracing 260 species
and 2,494 specimens. The well known accuracy of Mr. Bland
in this department, which has been a specialty with him for a
lifetime, renders this collection one of no ordinary value, and
it may well form, as we trust it will, the basis of a formal
arrangement of the shells of North America, which has long
been one of the prominent desiderata of our Museum.

The remaining specimens received during the year from
various sources have been mainly derived from our exchanges.
Nevertheless we have not failed to be remembered by our con-

—

1869.] SENATE—No. 60. 21

stant friend and contributor Mr. Charles Wright, who has laid
us under great obligations by a fine invoice of desirable Cuban
shells, and our Thayer Expedition must also be credited with a

small but valuable contribution of 35 species and 1,039 speci-

mens of Brazilian land shells. Thus from twenty-six sources
we have derived 1,523 species and 21,394 specimens as the
result of our year’s labors in this department, while our consign-
ments have only been to seven persons, amounting to 443
species and 867 specimens.

We may add that during the past year we have had the
pleasure of aiding, as far as we could, Mr. William G. Binney
in his undertaking to edit the new edition of the late Dr.
Gould’s Report on the Invertebrate of Massachusetts, and
have furnished for that purpose a large number of our best
specimens of New England mollusca, in order that new figures
might be drawn to replace the lost plates of the first edition.
In this connection we may remark that it seemed to us
peculiarly fitting that this enterprise, ordered by the State,
should be aided in every possible way by a State institution like
our own, and we have cheerfully rendered every assistance in
our power.

Report on the Mammals, by J. A. ALLEN.

Since the last announcement of the additions to this depart-
ment, there have been added 369 specimens, representing 168
species, one-half of them through our exchanges, and about
one-fourth each by donation and purchase. The most impor-
tant additions have been a fine collection of skins from Aus-
tralia, from Professor McCoy; a large invoice of European
mammals, including a number of very fine specimens mounted,
from Professor William Schimper; a fine lot of skulls from
Kast India, from W. Theobald, Jr.; and an invoice from South
Africa, from Professor Layard. These collections have all been
added by exchanges. Some very desirable lots have also been
added by purchase. :

Except the cataloguing of the skins, which we have recently
completed, little has been done in this department beyond the

22 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

necessary work of taking care of the invoices received, and
attending to the general safety of the collections.

By Donation.

Agassiz, L. 2 skins (fresh) and 1 skull of Antilocarpa Amer-
tcana, and 1 skull of black-tailed deer from Laramie Plains.

Auten, J. A. 1 Lorex Cooperi from Wayne Co., N. Y.; 3 speci-
mens, 1 species of Vespertilio, from Ogle Co., Ill.; fossil tooth,
(Cervide sp.), Redfield, Dallas Co., Ia.; 34 skins, 9 species; 30
specimens, 6 species in alcohol; 11 skulls, 7 species, from various
localities in Massachusetts.

Carrot, Micnart. 2 skeletons of seals; 1 skeleton and 1 skin
of Caribou, from Newfoundland.

Eames, H. H. 1 living Jaculus hudsonius, from Cambridge.

Goopnow, E. 6 specimens, 1 species, from Cambridge.

Harrt, C. F., and Copretanp, ©. (Thayer Expedition.) 1
human skull and 1 Capivara, from Spiritu Santo.

Maywnarp, C. J. 7 specimens, 6 species, skins, from Newton-
ville, Mass.

By Hechange.

Bascocn, A. L. 5 specimens, 3 species, shrews and moles, in
alcohol, from Sherborn, Mass.

Bennett, C.W. 1 Scalops aquaticus skin, from Holyoke, Mass.

Epwarps, Prof. H. Manz. (Jardin des Plantes.) 9 specimens,
8 species. ;

Layarp, E. L. (South African Museum.) 18 specimens, 17
species, from South Africa; 1 specimen from Japan.

Museum Copennacur. 1 skeleton of Cetacean.

McCoy, Prof. C. 33 specimens skins, from Melbourne, Aus-
tralia.

ScummpeR, Prof. Wm. 38 species, 76 specimens, skins, including
quite a number mounted, from Germany.

THEOBALD, W., Jr. 15 species, 30 specimens, skulls and bones,
from East India.

By Purchase.
Eighty-three skins, and fourteen mounted specimens, represent-
ing twenty-seven species, nearly one-half of which were from lowa
and Illinois, and the remainder from Massachusetts.

1869.] SENATE—NO. 60. 23

Report on the Birds, by J. A. ALLEN.

The additions to the ornithological department since the
last detailed report of receipts, have been very considerable,
amounting in the aggregate to above two thousand one hundred
skins, representing about five hundred and fifty species, includ-
ing nearly three hundred mounted specimens, eighty-seven
adult birds, and nearly three hundred embryos, in alcohol, five
hundred and fifty-four dry eggs, and skeletons and parts of
skeletons of about forty species.

Though the additions have been chiefly from North America,
as shown in the subjoined schedule, and largely from New
England, the foreign invoices received, mostly through ex-
changes with other museums and individuals, have contributed
above one-fourth of the skins, and fully four hundred species.
Among the donations, a collection of more than one hundred
finely prepared skins of Brazilian birds, the gift of the Emperor
of Brazil, is especially worthy of notice. Among the additions
accruing from our exchanges, nearly complete skeletons of four
species of Dinornis, the latter from Dr. Haast, of Christ-church,
New Zealand, and from the same gentlemen, and through Pro-
fessors Layard, McCoy, Kaup and Schimper, large invoices of
skins from New Zealand, South Africa, Melbourne, the East
Indies and Europe, are also deserving of particular mention.
The invoice of Professor Schimper embraces a large series of
very finely mounted European birds, representing nearly one
hundred species. The domestic receipts include a fine lot of
nearly one hundred and fifty mounted specimens of New Eng-
land birds, selected with special reference to completing a fau-
nal collection of this region for exhibition, and which contains
many varieties.

In order not only to increase the stock of duplicates for
exchanges, but to bring together large series of specimens of
a considerable number of species from a single locality, for the
purpose of affording means for the investigation of the amount
and character of individual variation, it was decided early in
the year to collect extensively Massachusetts birds, and in fol-
lowing out the plan, some thirteen hundred specimens have
been added during the past season. In carrying on this work,
we were most fortunate to secure the assistance of Mr. C. J.
Maynard, of Newtonville, whose enthusiastic co-operation has

24 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

been of great value. What should be particularly noted in
reference to these additions, is the fact that detailed measure-
ments of each specimen were carefully made before skinning,
and the sex determined in all cases by actual dissection. Of a
few species, above fifty specimens of each have been collected.
Such series show the exceptionable character of many distinc-
tions commonly considered to be trustworthy guides in deter-
mining species, and not unfrequently present specimens differ-
ing so widely from each other, that if they came from remote
localities, few ornithologists would hesitate to consider them as
representing distinct species.

The work on the collections has been mainly confined to the
skins. The cataloguing and arrangement of these have been
continued, and a considerable number of duplicates set aside
for exchanges, some of which have been packed, and are await-
ing shipment. With the exception of very recent additions, all
the American and European specimens are now catalogued,
and the North American have been carefully identified. The
arrangement of them into faunal and systematic series is also
considerably advanced. In connection with the faunal arrange-
ment of the collection, a special investigation of the Geographi-
cal Distribution of the Birds of North America has been com-
menced. To facilitate the collection of data concerning this
subject, the subjoined circular has been issued, and extensively
distributed among American ornithologists. Responses from a
considerable number of observers have already been received,
in which they have promised their co-operation. A few have
also made valuable contributions of facts, among which we will
here only mention a full list of the birds of the vicinity of
Havana, Cuba, with annotations, from Dr. Gundlach.

During the year, the whole collection of embryos, preserved
in alcohol, numbering above thirteen hundred lots and three |
thousand specimens, has been systematically arranged in the
cellar, and the cataloguing of the same completed. More than
two hundred mounted specimens of birds have been added to
the collection on exhibition, while many more are stored in the
bird-room for lack of space in the public rooms.

In conclusion, we may add that, through the great number
of specimens accumulated from one locality now possessed by
the Museum, we are provided with an amount of material

1869.] SENATE—No. 60. 25

necessary for the successful investigation of many points bear-
ing on the character of species, far exceeding that of any other
Museum. It is still desirable, however, to considerably increase
the number of specimens of the Gralla and Anatide, and some
other of the aquatic species, since of these we have but few speci-
mens to spare for exchanges. It is hoped that this deficiency
may be supplied during the ensuing year.

By Donation.

Agassiz, L. 1 Falco peregrinus, from Cambridge, Mass.

Auten, J. A. 76 specimens, 27 species, skins; 60 specimens, 20
species, in alcohol; 205 specimens, 17 species, eggs and young
birds, in alcohol; 418 specimens, 15 species, dry eggs, from various
localities in Massachusetts.

Bascock, A.L. 2specimens, 2 species, skins, from Massachusetts.

Buss, Ricnarp, Jr. 1 skin of Butes borealis, and 2 specimens,
2 species, in alcohol, from Ogdensburg, N. Y.

Emperor oF Braziz. 108 specimens, 67 species, skins, from
Brazil. |
_ Goopnow, E. 13 specimens, 8 species, fresh, from Cambridge.

Harriss, E. D., Cambridge. 2 young domestic pigeons.

Jiztson, 8. 4 specimens, 4 species, from different foreign local-
ities.

Kwnowtton, W. J. 1 live Carolina Rail, from Rockport, Mass.

Lincien, Cuartes. 1 Pelionetta perspicillata, from Buffalo, N.Y.

Locxwoop, 8., Jr. 2 specimens, 2 species, from Fallsburg, N. Y.

Maynarp, C.J. 67 specimens, 19 species, eggs and young birds,
in alcohol, chiefly from Newtonville, Mass.

SUPERINTENDENT OF THE Mount AuBuRN CEMETERY. 1 swan,
fresh.

Perry, Rey. J. B. 1 nest, and 2 eggs, from Burlington, Vt.

RoerttTer, J. 10 specimens, 6 species, from Cambridge.

SMITHSONIAN InstituTION. 182 specimens, 58 species, chiefly
from Arctic America.

Tuayer Expepition. Hartt, C. F.and Coreiann, C. 1 skel-
eton, from Spiritu Santo, Brazil.

By Exchange.

BENNETT, C. W. 6 specimens, 5 species, skins, from Holyoke,
Mass.
_ Epwarps, Prof. H. Mirnr. (Jardin des Plantes.) 1 ostrich,
and 1 cassowary, mounted, and 1 skeleton of cassowary.
4

26 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

Haast, Dr. J., Christ-church, New Zealand. Skeletons, some of
them sufficiently perfect to be mounted, of 4 species of Dinornis,
(D. crassus, D. elephantopus, D. dodiformis, D. casuarius.) Also
50 specimens, 36 species of skins, from New Zealand.

Kaur, Dr. (Museum of Darmstadt.) 26 specimens, 23 species,
chiefly from Celebes, Timor and Molucca.

Layarp, Prof. E. L. (South African Museum.) 82 specimens,
66 species, from South Africa; 9 specimens, 7 species, from India,
and 1 specimen from Australia, skins. Also 134 specimens, 59
species, dry eggs, from South Africa.

McCoy, Prof. Freprric. (Victoria Museum, Melbourne.) 119
specimens, skins, from Melbourne. .

Scurmper, Prof. Wu. (Museum of Strasburg.) 178 specimens,
106 species, skins, the greater part finely mounted, chiefly from
Germany.

By Purchase.

1,023 specimens, 124 species, skins; 146 mounted specimens, 80
species; 35 sternums, 31 species; and 12 skulls, 9 species; all from
Eastern Massachusetts. Also 80 specimens, 35 species, skins, from
Iowa and Illinois. Also 1 dodo, from Mauritius, (through Mr.
Mellers, U. 8. Consul at Mauritius.)

Norte.

Circular in reference to obtaining data concerning the distribution
of North American birds in the breeding season.

All naturalists are aware that the Geographical Distribution of
animals and plants is a subject of great and general interest, and
that its investigation is at present greatly retarded by the small
number of facts on record. This is more particularly the case in
reference to Birds, inasmuch as their range in the breeding season,
which is by far the most essential, is less known than their general
range, including their migratory journeys. The present Circular is
issued by the Museum of Comparative Zodlogy, with the hope that,
through the general co-operation of Ornithologists, such facts may
be collected as will furnish much additional information relating to
the distribution of the North American species at this season.

While complete lists of the species occurring in many localities
is extremely desirable,—with full notes in reference to the times of
their migrations, seasons of occurrence, time of nesting, and rel-
ative abundance,—partial lists, even embracing only the more com-

Pe. 1860:) SENATE—No. 60. 27

mon species observed during the breeding season, would be of great
value. However few the facts, they will be very gratefully received.

The recipient of this is accordingly respectfully solicited to con-
tribute such facts on the subject as he may have at command,
transmitting them as directed below. Full credit will be given to
each observer in the Annual Reports of the Museum, and finally,
in working up the observations thus collected, his name will be
given as a guaranty of their authenticity.

A series of specimens of the birds of any locality in the Southern
and Western parts of the Continent, with or without their nests
and eggs, with the date and place of collecting carefully noted and
appended, would be thankfully received, and, if so desired by the
collector, after careful examination, will be returned to him prop-
erly labelled.

Communications or packages should be addressed to J. A. ALLEN,
care of Prof. Lours Agassiz, Museum of Comparative Zodlogy,

Cambridge, Mass.
L. AGaAssiz.
Museum oF CoMPARATIVE eng

CampBrincE, Mass., June 4, 1868.

a Report on the Collection of Articulata, by Dr. H. HaGen.

I arrived in Cambridge October 12th, 1867, having come to
this country in order to take charge of the collection of Articu-
lates in the Museum of Comparative Zodlogy, and especially to
re-arrange the entomological collection. Prof. Agassiz desired
me before beginning the work to draw up a detailed written
plan, containing my views on the subject and explaining the
method of arrangement which I thought best.

This plan being generally adopted, I began with the class of
Crustacea, postponing my work upon the Insects, because it was
very important that the new boxes and cabinets intended to
contain them, should be made by a first-rate workman, and they
could not be ready for some months to come. The first lot
arrived in August, 1868.

The numerous objects received from Mr. Thayer’s expedition
had for some time occupied all working hands; the importance
of putting them in safety being generally recognized. On this
account it had been impossible to give more attention to the
collection of articulates than was absolutely necessary to keep

28 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. ([Feb.

them in good preservation. In the exhibition rooms there were
about 500 species of crustacea, mostly determined by Messrs.
Dana, W. Stimpson and others; all the rest had been stored
for some years on the cellar shelves in kegs or glass jars.
During the first three months I was occupied in cleaning, sepa- _
rating, and unpacking these jars. In this time, with the excep-
tion of some kegs containing mostly duplicates, the whole col-
lection was assorted in 4,300 glass jars; these jars were filled
with new alcohol and placed on provisional shelves put up for
the purpose in the library and adjoining rooms ready for scien-
tific purposes. The following months I was engaged in a gen-
eral revision of the whole collection, nearly three-quarters of
which consisted of Brachyura and Macrura, now arranged in
families and genera. Some families are even farther revised,
especially the Stomatopods, as well as some genera of the
Brachyura and Pagurina. The very valuable collection of the
American Astaci is monographically finished and now in the
way of publication. An estimate made upon this careful
revision shows the collection to contain more than 2,000
species, a considerable number when we remember that accord-
ing to the most recent computation of the species of crustacea
thus far known they do not exceed 5,500 species.

Meanwhile I formed a small but valuable collection of the
family of Pseudo-scorpions, hitherto neglected in the study of
the American fauna. By the help of Messrs. Francis Sanborn,
Cresson, Packard, Burgess, Mann and others, I was able to bring
together a collection of species from all the recognized genera
of these interesting animals, hitherto unknown on this side of
the water, with the exception of two species described by Mr.
Say. Mr. Menge, of Danzig, Prussia, to whom we owe the
best monographs of this family, was so kind as to present the
Museum with a full set of his types. A monograph of this
small family containing a complete synopsis of all described
species, with drawings of all American species, is nearly ready
for publication.

In the succeeding months the Insects, Myriapods and Arach-
nids in alcohol were revised, cleaned, and partly separated, and
repacked in new alcohol. Mr. Burgess has had the kindness
to revise, determine, and catalogue the North American Myria-

1869.] SENATE—No. 60. 29

pods. Mr. B. P. Mann partly revised the North American
Lepidoptera in alcohol.

The arrival of the new insect boxes, enabled me to begin my
work upon the entomological collections of dry specimens in
November. The plan adopted for this portion of the articulate
collection, is intended especially to fulfil the following condi-
tions. 1. The whole collection is to be put up in such a way
as to be secured as far as possible against the attacks of obnox-
ious and destructive insects, and adapted at the same time, for
scientific purposes and study. The collection should be made
a standard collection for all time, remarkable for its mode of
preservation, remarkable for its systematic arrangement, remark-
able as far as possible for its correct identification of species. It
should always be a safe and useful guide for every entomologist,
especially for every American entomologist who desires to deter-
mine his doubtful species; and, in short, it should form, in the
highest sense, a national collection. To attain this end, the
boxes and cabinets are ordered of the best quality and pattern.
After careful consideration, we have adopted the fashion of cases
_ used for the same purpose in the Berlin Museum, and approved
after an experience of sixty years. A detailed description of
the form of the boxes and cabinets, with certain improvements
upon the original model, will perhaps be of interest hereafter.
I may add that I have never seen insect boxes better made,
than those furnished from Grant & Mann’s factory, for the use
of the Cambridge Museum.

2. The arrangement and ordering of the collection should
agree in every respect with the comprehensive plan adopted by
Prof. Agassiz, for all collections belonging to the Cambridge
Museum. This plan, though easily understood for the other
classes, may require some explanation as applied to the insects,
because on account of the immense number of species, exceed-
ing many times those of all other animals together, this class
might seem to require some peculiar mode of treatment. The
formation of the following collections is decided upon : —

1. A systematic general collection, serving as a dictionary
for science and students.

2. A systematic collection for North American insects,
intended especially for American entomologists and their pur-
poses, and including typical specimens as much as possible.

80 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

8. Typical collections to be separately preserved, like the
Melsheimer and Ziegler collections, now belonging to the
Museum.

4. Faunal collections, agreeing with the general plan
adopted by Prof. Agassiz for the other classes of animals, in
the greatest possible extension of perfection.

5. A collection representing the metamorphoses and all
different stages of the species, including their houses, cases,
cocoons, &c.

6. A biological collection, containing all the obnoxious or
useful insects, their products, their manner of working and feed-
ing, as well as specimens of the artificial products derived from
them; or the latter might be separated, as forming an eco-
nomical collection by itself.

7. An anatomical collection, including microscopical prepa-
rations, and following the order of the different systems of
organs through the whole class.

8. A paleontological collection, including insects contained
in amber and in copal.

9. A physiological collection, containing monstrosities, her-
maphrodites, and all objects belonging to this class of facts.

10. Since most of these collections require to be kept as
much excluded from light and air as possible, there will bea
collection for public exhibition, containing species remarkable
for their beauty, or as being either useful or obnoxious ; besides,
a collection representing types of families, and genera for ento-
mological students. The other collections will always be acces-
sible on special application, or for purposes of study.

Of course, so comprehensive a plan cannot be accomplished
under many years, nor without powerful support. To carry it
on, requires ample means and able assistance. The collection,
taking into account the time spent and the way in which it was
gathered, is no doubt considerable. It consists of nearly 1,300
boxes, some very full and nearly 4,000 alcoholic bottles ; one-
half containing lepidoptera, one-third coleoptera, the rest the
other orders. The fauna: of North America and Europe are
prominent. Micros are mostly wanting. The fauna of Brazil
is, for Rio and the vicinity, very rich ; for Para and other parts
of the sea-shore, considerable.

From Africa, Zanzibar is very well represented; from Asia,

~ > ee
oa Pe:

=

1869.] SENATE—No. 60. 31

Japan, China and Burmah ; from Australia, Melbourne. Other

localities are more or less represented.

The first step is to secure the safety of the present collection
in the new boxes; the second, to separate them as well as possi-
ble; the third, to enlarge the collections in such a way, as to
fulfil as far as may be, the plan proposed.

To accomplish this purpose, I have begun to bring together
the lepidoptera for the systematic and faunal collection, while
Mr. Burgess has been doing the same work for the North
American lepidoptera. Nearly 300 boxes are filled, and all the
lepidoptera except the valuable European collections, are
arranged.

Mr. B. P. Mann has commenced the same work for the North
American coleoptera, especially with the view of putting in
safety the valuable collections determined and arranged by Mr.
Uhler, and partly revised by Mr. LeConte.

I have also begun the arrangement of the larve, pupa, &c.,
for the collection representing the metamorphoses of insects.
They are arranged in glass tubes, in alcohol, and then placed
like the insects themselves, in well closed boxes, insuring their
perfect safety. This arrangement is made upon a peculiar plan,
facilitating the study of the objects and permitting a better view
and more ready comparison than is usual.

This is the beginning. Hard work, the sympathy and aid of
all entomological students, and a liberal pecuniary support, are
needed if the large and comprehensive scientific plan adopted,
is to be fulfilled. Iam sure that it will be!

Report on the Tertiary Gasteropods, by Rey. J. B. Perry.

During the year just drawing to a close, my attention has
been mainly confined to the Museum collections belonging to
the Tertiary era. In reporting upon the investigations begun,
and the progress thus far made, it may be well that I refer at
the start, to the collections themselves, and to the condition in
which I found them on assuming the position of assistant in the
department of Paleontology.

The Tertiary fossils of the Museum consist of several impor-
tant Tertiary collections brought together in one building—the

32 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

old Harvard collection, and the large gatherings made by indi-
viduals, in some cases during a lifetime of paleontological
activity. Among these may be mentioned the extensive collec-
tions of Professor Agassiz, which having been for many years in
process of accumulation, were presented in 1851; those of Pro-
fessor Bronn, of Duval, and of Boucault, which were purchased
in 1859; and the entire gatherings of De Koninck, and portions
of those made by Carl Meyer, Hichwald, Hornes, Michelotti,
Bellardi, Appelius, Rigacci, Rouault, Tarbé, Krantz, Lyell, and
many others, which were secured by purchase, exchange, or
donation.

These various assemblages of Tertiary organic remains had
’ been unpacked and placed in drawers previously to my connec-
tion with them. Considerable work had been also expended at
an early day on the Plants, on the Radiates, on the Brachiopods,
and the Cephalopoda. Of the remainder, the larger part was
deposited in a single room, while a portion, by no means small,
was scattered through the building. They were all safely stored,
though all were not in equally good condition. Of these speci-
mens, some were undistributed; others were placed together,
apparently at hap-hazard, and certainly without system; while
there were still others which had been partially arranged ; that
is, they were arranged so far as they could be said to have any
arrangement, according to five or six different methods. In
given instances, specimens in greater or less number had been
disposed in small groups. These groups, however, were never
found complete; they occurred, for the most part, in isolated
conditions, there often being twenty, thirty, or even forty sepa-
rate and different parcels, more or less alike, scattered through
the various collections. In other instances, specimens had been
thrown together, to some extent, according to countries, colloca-
tion being the main thought apparent, and this never carried
out with rigorous exactness. In yet other instances, an effort
to group the specimens was evident, a series of drawers being
found to hold fossils from many different regions, a single
drawer containing sometimes two or three groups, usually six
or eight, often a dozen or twenty, and occasionally species from
almost every branch in the animal kingdom.

Again, the specimens having come from a great number of
collectors, of course bore the names given by various different

1869.] SENATE—No. 60. _ 33

paleontologists, species widely unlike being designated as if
they belonged to the same genus, and those agreeing in their
generic characters, being referred to distinct genera. Under
these circumstances, as is not surprising, fossils intimately
related were often widely separated, even when there was an
attempted arrangement, while those not at all closely allied,
were arbitrarily placed in juxtaposition from a mechanical fol-
lowing of names —a result naturally to be expected in the first
efforts to classify diverse objects. In this endeavor to arrange
specimens systematically, as should be added, the work had
been seldom, perhaps never, pushed so far, as to appear in the
grouping of species according to their natural affinities; so,
again, older specimens were frequently found mingled with the
Tertiary, especially those of the Cretaceous era, there having
been a failure to discriminate closely between those of the Meso-
zoic and those of the Cainozoic age. The same was likewise true
of the Post-Tertiary fossils, the line of demarcation between them
and the Tertiary not having been critically regarded, as was not
indeed to be expected in the earlier stages of the work.

Once more: it became apparent that Tertiary specimens were
to a considerable extent, scattered all through the building,
some being here, a few more there, and others in additional
corners, occasionally by themselves, though often mingled with
fossils of various ages. It also became evident that there had
been, in some instances, a mixing of fossils from different local-
ities —a result scarcely to be avoided in the repeated removals
of so many collections, consisting of such a vast number of
specimens. Toa very large extent, these specimens were in
small pasteboard trays, accompanied by original labels — labels
which give great value to the specimens, as being the determi-
nations of such men as Bronn, Duval, De Koninck, Meyer, Eich-
wald, Hornes, Michelotti, Bellardi, and others. In most
instances they were accompanied by a sort of semi-duplicate
labels, consisting of portions of the original labels, respecting
which there was no question, with the designation of the collec-
tion to which the specimens respectively belonged, and occasion-
ally of the year of purchase or exchange.

Such is substantially the state in which I found the Tertiary
collections of the Museum —a state almost inseparable from
the mode in which the specimens have been brought together,

5

34 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

and the aims which heretofore have been largely prominent.
These specimens, as should be borne in mind, have been in proc-
ess of collecting for more than twenty years. They have come
from a vast variety of sources, under an almost endless multi-
plicity of forms, often in small numbers, and received at a great
number of different times ; so they have been packed away, not
as the Director might have wished, but as the storage rooms
would best allow, — the primary design being the accumulation
of valuable materials, in as large amount as possible, for subse-
quent investigation and arrangement. Accordingly, the occa-
sional mixing of specimens from different localities is a result,
even when there is the utmost care, necessarily incident to the
unpacking of large quanties of fossils from various localities, and
the repeated handling of them on other occasions. At the same
time, it is evident that such a condition of things renders a vast
amount of labor imperative. A partial mingling of specimens,
for instance, necessitates a deal of comparison, of examination
of kindred groups, of study of minute points, characieristics of
particular localities, if a restoration ever be effected, and even
then leaves every such specimen destitute of that fixed certainty
which is so important in all strictly scientific investigations, and
in order to really trustworthy conclusions.

It is, therefore, clear that these several collections, while
remaining in the condition referred to, kindred specimens being
so widely separated and the same species being designated by
such a variety of labels, could be made, only to a very small
extent, available for the purposes of instruction and of advanced
studies, or of intelligent comparison and of exchange. In order
to become both theoretically and practically useful, they must
be brought together in a systematic way, consolidated in conso-
nance with a fixed plan, and so worked up that each species
should have its appropriate place, as determined by its affinities,
and receive its designation accordingly. And this, asis evident,
must involve an immense amount of work, both on the speci-
mens themselves, and in the consultation and comparison of
authorities in respect to classification, synonymy, and the
nomenclature to be adopted in each specific case. Without all
these labors, and more than these, it was plainly impossible to
have a single grand collection so arranged throughout according
to both the affinities and the analogies of nature, as to be the

1869] ss SENATE—No. 60. 85

harmonious representation of the animal kingdom during the
Tertiary age, —so disposed as to stand in becoming relation to
the forms of an earlier day, no less than to those of the existing
era, — with all the parts in such a way designated, as to give
due credit to every previous collector, observer, and collaborator
in this broad field of inquiry.
» It was consequently natural for me to feel, in undertaking the
‘systematic arrangement of the Tertiary fossils of the Museum,
that I had a great task before me. I accordingly began at once
to prepare for it by a more thorough study than had before been
in my power, of the several branches of the animal kingdom,
and especially by a more exhaustive and minute investigation
of the Tertiary, as well in all the manifold phases embraced in
itself, as in its relations alike to the past and to the present.
Entering immediately upon the practical work to be done in the
Museum, I found myself in due time separating all the zodlog-
ical remains of the Cainozoic age into grand groups or parcels,
according to the several branches and classes to which they
respectively belong. At the suggestion of the Director, I took
‘up, at the very start, the Pleurotoma, a group of Gasteropods,
as a special study. Bringing this group of fossils together by
slow degrees, and devoting myself to a minute investigation of
them as they appear in a fossil state, and in their relations to
their living representatives, I gradually from this group as a
centre, worked my way outward in different directions, as occa-
sion offered. Advancing in this manner, I proceeded to sepa-
rate the entire assemblage of tertiary Gasteropods into kindred
groups of about the same equivalence, as Murex, Fusus, Ceri-
thium, and the like, according to their zodlogical affinities. This
work has been diligently prosecuted, and is largely accom-
plished. |

In addition to this, I have also been over these several differ-
ent groups, one after another, aiming to bring together in small
specific circles, all the individuals in each larger section, accord-
ing to their specific affinities. Having done this roughly for the
entire division of Gasteropodous Mollusks, I have in several
large groups taken up every specimen, examined it closely, and
thus endeavored by critical study, to bring into its appropriate
specific circle, each individual according to its natural and
characteristic features, as indicated by the object itself. This

36 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

has prepared the way for another process, which has been carried
on to a considerable extent in a number of large groups; viz.,
that of bringing together all the species, and arranging them in
distinct generic circles ; that is, in circles of species determined
by generic affinities, or according to their kinds; all this being
done in the light derived from the study of the fossils them-
selves. And this has suggested, and if the truth of nature be
carried out, it necessitates an additional step equally important
with the preceding; to wit, the disposing of these several genera
in more comprehensive groups, holding intimate or remote rela-
tions to each other, according to their sub-family or family like-
nesses and differences. Still another step contemplated and all
along kept in mind, but in respect to which I have as yet done
little in the practical arranging of the collections I am investi-
gating, is such a co-ordination of these several large groups, as
shall cause them to stand in due and proper relation to each
other, as making up the various great divisions composing the
class to which they respectively belong. j

In connection with, yet in addition to, this work on the speci-
mens themselves, there has been a large amount of labor
expended in the examination and comparison, as well of the
earlier names, figures and descriptions of species, as of those
now prevalent, and for the most part to be met with in recent
publications. This is necessary, in order that what has been
heretofore done by paleontologists may be definitely known,
and so the way made clear for intelligent advancement. It is
also desirable, in order that every species which has been accu-
rately named and figured, may be determined and designated
with strict historic fidelity ; and that thus such specific groups
as have not yet been properly worked up, may be in due time
accurately arranged, named and described, as truth and the
exigencies of each case shall dictate. In this direction a large
amount of preliminary work has been done, and the result
briefly noted, — a work which has necessitated the ransacking
of many musty tomes, some of them long out of print, in Eng-
lish, French, German and Italian ; for original documents have
been in all cases consulted, so far as adit in connection
with more recent authorities.

There is another important aim involved in the work under
consideration, — an aim, which as suggested by the Director of

1869.] | SENATE—No. 60. 37

the Museum, has been constantly borne in mind, and actually
carried into execution as rapidly as the advancement in the
arrangement of species has allowed. Reference is made to the
selection of specimens from this large mass of material, as it
receives systematic consolidation, for three Museum collections.

First of all, with a view to the formation of a grand system-
atic collection, choice has been carefully made of a type-speci-
men — intended to be the best single representative to be found
—in each specific group. In all cases, so far as possible, these
type-examples are authentic specimens selected from the collec-

tions of the paleontologists who described the species, great

pains having been taken to secure such specimens. The purpose
of this assemblage of representative individuals is the presenta-
tion to the eye, by actual examples, of the true scientific rela-
tions of the animal kingdom, viewed as a systematic whole, so
far as they are already recognized, or may from time to time
come to be known, and to just the extent the additions to the
Museum will warrant. Of course, in this collection, which is
designed to be a sort of world in miniature, every species of
which the institution possesses an authentic example, will be
represented.

‘In the second place, specimens are in process of selection,
from each specific group, for a grand faunal collection. With
the design of making this assemblage as complete as possible,
specimens are chosen in sufficient number to show all individual
and specific characteristics—the relations of sex, with the
various other points, both of agreement and of variation — as
well as to illustrate whatever peculiarities have been noticed, or
may come to light in the process of investigation. At the same
time, this collection is intended, as its name implies, to demon-
strate by positive ocular evidence, the geographical limitation
and distribution of each species, so far as its actual extension
is indicated, or shall come hereafter to be indicated, by the
materials at the disposal of the Museum. Of course, this assem-
blage of specimens, as progress is made in its formation, natu-
rally divides itself in various more or less distinct partitions,
according to the regions, basins, or zodlogical provinces to which
the species respectively belong ; while these as readily subdivide

themselves into sections answering to the different chronologic

horizons which they severally represent. In making up this

38 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

collection, the utmost care is taken to select those specimens
alone, in respect to which there is no doubt whatever as to
geological horizon and geographical position.

In the third place, specimens are in process of selection pistes
all the different specific groups, a single one from each locality,
intended to make up a grand chronologic collection. The
design of this last assemblage of fossils, is the visible represen-
tation of what I have been wont to term life-periods. In other
words, it is the actual exhibition of the vertical extension or
geologic duration of each species in every locality, of which the
Museum has, or may come to have, specimens; and so of the:
succession in time, both of species and of all the different divis-.
ions of the animal kingdom. ‘The indication of succession,
with other closely allied points, being the prominent purpose of.
this collection, ordinary specimens are used; while sometimes
in the lack of them, or, if the species be rare and. the fossils of
great value, simple tablets, appropriately labelled, with refer-
ences both to the systematic and to the fanual collection, will
be for a while employed. This, however, will only be the case
until the deficiency can be supplied by the reception of a larger.
amount of material; for it is desirable that each collection be as.
full of instruction as possible, without detraction from its peer
dominant aim.

As this work has gone’on, two results have come to light pri
of which is deserving of notice. I refer to the completeness and
deficiency of the Tertiary collections belonging to the institution..
In my study of these organic remains, the richness of the
Museum stores has become more and more evident, surpassing
in some instances even the highest expectations entertained in
regard to them. As an instance of this amplitude and fulness,
I may cite the consolidated collection of fossil Pleurotoma,—a
group, the specimens of which have been for the most part
brought together and pretty thoroughly worked up, though
many details yet remain unexecuted. In this group alone, the
Tertiary species belonging to the Museum, and in most instances
represented by a fair number of individuals, probably exceed
450; while the whole number cited by S. P. Woodward, of the
British Museum, is 800. The Cerithium group, the systematic
arrangement of which is considerably, though by no means so
far advanced, seems to be equally large. Many other groups,

1869.] | SENATE—No. 60. 39

in the arrangement of which no small progress has been already
made, such as the Voluta, Pyrula, Fusus, Murex, and the like,
are very well represented in the Museum collections.

But the study of these fossil remains has also revealed defi-
ciencies in various directions. Some groups, as we might
naturally expect, are much less richly represented than others.
So there are localities famous for their Tertiary fossils, of which
the Museum has only a meagre supply of specimens. These
and other like defects, as it is hoped, will constantly become
less as time advances. In connection with this point, it may
be proper for me to say that there have been lately received in
this department about 300 specimens, comprising some twenty
species, from Mr. J. G. Anthony’s collection. While making a
vacation gathering of Paleozoic fossils last summer, I was able
to add about 200 specimens of fossil seeds and fruits, from the
Pleiocene beds of Brandon, Vt.; likewise, upward of 900 speci-
mens, consisting of about a dozen species, from the Pleistocene
formations of western Vermont and of Montreal. During the
past year nothing has been done in the way of making
exchanges of Tertiary fossils, it being the aim, first of all, to get
the Museum collections into a well organized condition. And I
am happy in being able to say, that this work is now so far
advanced, as to render it proper to turn attention in this direc-
tion. Indeed, the reference to existing deficiencies was made
in the hope that it will lead to a system of active and more

extensive exchanges, which must prove at once TRG EBE to

others, and beneficial to the institution.

This reference to exchanges suggests an additional point,
which may receive a moment’s notice. In making up the three
Museum collections, a considerable amount of unemployed
material is in process of gradual elimination, which may here-
after serve for purposes of study and illustration, of donation
and exchange. This unused material naturally divides itself
into two parts. The first portion consists of such specimens as
have been mixed, either accidentally or in process of moving —
in fact, of all those specimens which are eliminated because of
some doubt which may be entertained, either as regards their
locality, their geologic horizon, or any other point impairing
their scientific worth. Specimens of this kind, though their
value in one direction be diminished, are still of great use; and

40 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. — [Feb.

they are all preserved, and will be put to good service, either as
objects on which students may be engaged in learning to note
likenesses and to discriminate differences, or as material for the
making of sections illustrative of the interior structure of fossil
remains. The other portion of this material, steadily increas-
ing as the Museum collections advance, and in respect to which
there is no question, is laid aside and will be faithfully reserved
for purposes of donation and exchange. Although this be a
subordinate and incidental feature of the work that is going on,
it is yet one of no small importance as respects the permanent
usefulness and interest of the institution in advancing the aims
of science. This surplus material being worked up, in many
cases with as much thoroughness as that reserved for the use
of the Museum, is coming to be greatly enhanced in value, as
well in a pecuniary, as in a scientific point of view; and it is
believed that, as judiciously employed, it will in the end con-
tribute not a little to the prosperity, because it is calculated to
add so much to the usefulness abroad, and to the efficiency at
home of this cosmopolitan school for the training of naturalists.

In what has been said, I have had primary and exclusive
reference to the systematic arrangement of the Tertiary collec-
tions of the Museum. Substantially, the same remarks might
be made in regard to the rich assemblages of Mesozoic and
Palseozoic fossils in the possession of the institution. Indeed,
essentially the same principles are applicable, and, as I infer,
are to be carried out in the entire department of Paleontology,
as well as in the several other departments, of course receiving
modifications as exigencies may vary, but everywhere pervaded
by singleness of purpose, and brought to bear in the light of one
all-controlling idea. It is the aim of the Director to build up a
Museum, in the proper scientific sense of the term—a Museum
in which the whole animal kingdom shall be represented, both
under its existing relations, and as it was in the past, the vast —
assemblage of specimens being so arranged as to exhibit, in one
picture, distribution in space as it has appeared from age to
age; in another, succession in time; and in a third, a system-
atic view, at once of the affinities and of the diversities of all
recognized animal forms,—a Museum which shall stand as a
transcript of the world of animated existence, everywhere reveal-
ing the thoughts of a Supreme Intelligence, working out under

1869.) SENATE—No. 60. 41

an endless multiplicity of structures, a primal and all-pervading
unity of design, — thus a Museum which shall stand as a monu-
ment of all that is yet known of the living forms which have

peopled our globe, on the one hand suggesting the true philoso-

phy of nature, and on the other, teaching its history by a mani-
fold variety of well-selected examples.

' In closing this Report, I desire to say that in the little I have
done, I have all along received kindly counsel and valuable
suggestions from Professor Agassiz; and that I have been able
in all points cordially to sympathize, and, as I trust, in some
actively to co-operate with him in his various plans and efforts
to advance the interests of the Museum.

Report on the Collection of Fossil Remains in general, by N.
_S. SHALER.

u The assistant in Paleontology has to report a resumption of
the work upon the collections under his charge, which had been
interrupted by two years’ absence from duty in the Museum.
During this time he has had the opportunity of visiting about
fifty of the principal museums of Europe, of carefully examin-
ing the various matters connected with their administration,
and of obtaining much information which may in the future be
made useful in the arrangement of our own collections. Al-
though this systematic study of the great European collections
resulted in the acquisition of many valuable details concerning
the mechanical appliances for the care and arrangement of ma-
terials, it afforded no results which could have an influence
upon the general plan which should regulate the arrangement
of the stores of a museum. So far as his observations extended
he found no museum where any other purpose than a desire to
produce a pleasing and convenient disposition of the specimens,
was manifested in the general plan of arrangement. In the few
cases where there was an evident intention of showing some of
the more important general features connected with the distri-
bution of life over the face of the globe or in the successive
geological formations, the imperfection of the means has been
too great to afford any great result. Among the fifty museums

visited not one was found in a building especially designed for
6

42 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

the purpose of exhibiting collections arranged to show the his-
tory of life. Where, as in the Oxford, Heidelberg, and other
university museums, buildings have been constructed to hold
scientific collections, they have been designed to contain other
museums besides the zodlogical, and have thus had their shape
partly determined by the needs of other departments. The
great collections of Europe are crowded into buildings which
were not planned for their accommodation. The liberality of
the people of Massachusetts has given to zodlogical science the
first, and as yet the only structure erected for its sole use.

The work of cataloguing the collections of fossils has been
resumed. This work has been nearly finished in the order of —
Brachiopoda, and is already well advanced in the Lamellibran-
chiata. Over twelve thousand (12,000) lots of fossils have
been entered on the lists, and corresponding numbers written
on the one hundred thousand specimens they contain; thus
permanently securing those specimens against loss from acci-
dental displacement. The arrangement of the Brachiopoda into
its proper subordinate groups, and the separation into the differ-
ent geological and faunal divisions, has been carried so far that
the greater part of the specimens are in order for the work of
placing on tablets for exhibition. The collection of Brachiopoda
now in our hands, is one of the most extensive, if not the most
complete in the world. We have added to the large and valu-
able collections purchased from Bronn, De Koninck, Campiche,
and many others in Europe, very large collections from the most
important American localities. Every effort will be directed
towards making this collection of fossils useful in the devel-
opment of our knowledge of the history of life on this continent,
by increasing our stores of American fossils, and by extending
the work of comparison of our own species with those found in
other regions. As soon as the whole collection has been secured
against mischance by the system of cataloguing and number-
ing, it can then be intrusted without danger to students and
preparators for study and for the work of preparing for exhi-
bition. The completion of the series of racks now being built
to hold the two thousand drawers in which our fossils are stored,
will greatly facilitate the work of arrangement and enable us
to have all our materials readily accessible. ©

1869.])) © - SENATE—No. 60. 43

Although our collection of fossils is in many respects unsur-
passed, many things are still necessary to give it the value it
should have to accomplish the ends in view. Assistance for
cleaning and mounting the specimens is imperatively necessary.
At least two persons could be employed on this work for the
next year without going out of the material already catalogued.
There is also need of some expenditures to complete the series
of forms now in our stores, which having been purchased from
many hands, require considerable additions to fill the blanks
which remain. We ought also to have at least one collector
constantly at work on our American rocks, in order that our
representation from them be more complete, and that we may
haye ample means for exchange. Itis no exaggeration to say
that for every lot of carefully collected American fossils we can
obtain valuable European specimens, which would cost us twice
or thrice as much to purchase as we pay by exchange. The
assistant is now preparing a map to show the regions from
which we have collections of American fossils to guide the
work of collecting, should it be concluded to undertake it.
The most serious deficiencies are to be found in the collections
from the Southern States. The war prevented collection for
many years, and the disturbed state of the country has made
it difficult to get collectors to go there since its close. Now
that this difficulty is removed, there should be more attention
paid to the rich Cretaceous and Tertiary localities so generally
absent in the seaboard Northern States. Several correspond-
ents are very desirous of haying collections from that region.

Since the resumption of work in September, several exchanges
have been prepared for our European correspondents. During
his journey, the assistant in charge of this department, was so
fortunate as to make arrangements which secure this sort of co-
operation on the part of about a dozen valuable correspondents,
in addition to the thirty or more already on our books, to whom
collections will be forwarded as rapidly as possible.

The assistant in Paleontology has given thirteen lectures of
a course on Paleontology, which will be continued during the
remainder of the present term and part of the next. The
second part of the course will be especially devoted to instruc-
tion in the identification of fossils.

44 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.

The Museum is indebted to the following persons for dona-
tions of fossils :— |

Grerenoucnu, Horatio, Mrs. 1 lot of fossil, from Vaches Noires
Calvados. |

Wuitney, Prof. J.D. Teeth of fossil elephant,

Ciark, President, of Mass, Agricultural College. 2 specimens
of fossils, from South Carolina. ao

McPuerson, Wo., Jackson County, Florida. 1 mastodon tooth.

Exuis, C. Stuart, of Muscatine, Iowa. 1 fossil plant.

Rapin, Dr., of Grandson, Switzerland. 1 lot of neocomian
fossils.

Gispon, Gen., U. 8S. A. Fossils, from Laramie Plain.

Agassiz, Prof. L., Curator of the Museum. Boxes of fossils,
from the Smoky Hill route, Rocky Mountains.

Agassiz, Prof. L., Curator of the Museum. Boxes of fossils,
from Ithaca, New York. .

Acassiz, ALEx., Assistant in the Museum. A lot of fossils from
the drift beds of the Lake Superior region.

- Barnarp, James M. Fragments of vertebrate skeleton, from
a citation Territory.

BouTeE..E, Capt. Fossil tooth, from Ashley River, South Caro-
lina.

Wrman, Prof. J. 1 lot of fossils, from Florida.

Rice, Prof. J. M. 1 box of fossils, from Annapolis, Md.

Sater, N. S., Assistant in the Dep’t of Paleontology. 1,200
species, about 30,000 specimens of European fossils, representing
about 100 localities, and most of the European horizons.

Suater, N.S. 50 species, 300 specimens Silurian and Tertiary
fossils, from Ohio and Kentucky.

Prrry, Rev. J. B., Assistant in the Museum. 915 specimens
Pleistocene shells; 200 specimens Tertiary seeds and fruits, from
Vermont and Canada, and 850 specimens of Paleozoic fossils, from
Vermont and New York.

SEeRRES, M. Hector, a Dax, France. 1 lot of Tertiary fossils.

Ravey, Sam. One large Orthoceratite, from Nashville, Tenn.

The following lots have been received in exchange since the
last report of the assistant :— Hop

\Davis, H., McGregor, Iowa. 1 box of fossils.

a Dr., Delaware, Ohio. 1 box of fossils.

oa

iO. | Je GQ VAIN TAS td 45
9f. we , Oberlin College. 2 boxes of fossils.

x of fossils.

F. A lot of European fossils.
Dr., , New Zealand. A lot of Dinornis bones, embracing
r y perfect skeletons. |
A. 1 lot of Zamerioan | fossils. . ae
ity avIN PTYERWAT #09 uiomil ALS Se AUT. GO GENT ART

%o the lon ¢ ee aclu ie Palzontology
om his place, it is not impossible that some omissions will

we is bo detected in the list of persons to whom the thanks
he Museum are due; should euch be discovered, the, 26
x entivtll be made in the — eae
2 i rs \ era PAIRS, Oe T
Be ceanesss 2) PESO
= ba LE SAANTA TS EA FLUO... SRT) 4O AaAAANG ABS

pyc DAR AL $9) tit

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46 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Feb.’69.

[B.]

TRUSTEES OF THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. |
1869.

Tue GOVERNOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH,
WILLIAM CLAFLIN.

Tue LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR,
JOSEPH TUCKER.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE,
ROBERT C. PITMAN.

THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
HARVEY JEWELL.

THE SECRETARY OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION,
JOSEPH WHITE.

THe CuieFr JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME JUDICIAL Court,
REUBEN A. CHAPMAN.

LOUIS AGASSIZ.

JAMES WALKER. JAMES LAWRENCE.
NATHANIEL THAYER. THEODORE LYMAN.
SAMUEL HOOPER. C. W. FREELAND.

(And two vacancies.)

OFFICERS OF THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY FOR
1869.

His Excellency Wriiti1am CLaFruin, Governor of the Commonwealth,
President.

THEODORE LyMAN, Treasurer and Secretary pro. tem.

Louis Acassiz, Director of the Museum.

SAMUEL Hooper, JosEPpH WHITE, NATHANIEL THAYER, JAMES LAW-
RENCE, Committee on Finance.

Louis AGaAssiz, ReEuBEN A. CHAPMAN, Committee on the Museum.

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