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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the generosity of the Duke of Loubat 

 and contributions made by the presi- 

 dent of the museum and the Messrs. 

 Hyde, the museum came into the pos- 

 session of a verj' large amount of ma- 

 terial illustrating the culture of ancient 

 Mexico. Another exhibit worthy of 

 note is that of a portion of the mate- 

 rial obtained during the researches in 

 the Delaware which have been carried 

 on for more than twenty years. It 

 seems to show that man was in the 

 valley of the Delaware at the time 

 that certain of the glacial deposits and 

 those immediately following were 

 made. The year was signalized by the 

 conclusion of the explorations of 

 Messrs. Bogoras and Jochelson, on ac- 

 count of the Jesup North Pacific Ex- 

 pedition, and their return to the mu- 

 seum with vast quantities of ethno- 

 logical material. The expedition has 

 covered the whole district from Colum- 

 bia Eiver in America westward to the 

 Lena in Siberia, and it is already evi- 

 dent that the relationship between 

 Asia and America is much closer than 

 had hitherto been supposed. The 

 Huntington California Expedition and 

 the North American Research Expedi- 

 tion were continued in 1902, and much 

 information gained in regard to certain 

 of the native races of America. The 

 east Asiatic work of the Expedition to 

 China promises important scientific re- 

 siilts. The Hyde Expedition carried 

 on work in the southwest and in north- 

 ern Mexico. The results of the work 

 of the Mexican Expedition throw 

 much light on the burial customs of 

 the ancient Zapotecans, and the collec- 

 tions obtained add materially to the 

 importance of the collection in the mu- 

 seum. Rare specimens of gold, cop- 

 per and jadeite secured by the expedi- 

 tion, added to those already in the 

 museum, make this part of the Mexi- 

 can collection the best in any museum. 

 From the Duke of Loubat the mu- 

 seum received a gem collection of 

 great importance from the state of 

 Oaxaca. Local explorations were car- 



ried on in the Shinnecock and Poose- 

 patuck reservations on Long Island 

 and Staten Island and at Shinnecock 

 Hills. 



Several additions were made during 

 the year to the gem collection, in the 

 Department of Mineralogy, namely, 

 five magnificent crusts of amethyst, a 

 large yellow sapphire, two parti-colored 

 sapphires, an immense star sapjihire, 

 and a curious archaic axe of agate, gifts 

 of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan. A splendid 

 collection of gold and silver coins from 

 the Philadelphia mint, the gift of Mr. 

 Morgan, was placed in the gem room. 



The Department of Invertebrate 

 Zoology received an important acces- 

 sion in a collection of West Indian 

 corals, actinians and alcyonarians col- 

 lected in Jamaica. The New York 

 Zoological Society and the Department 

 of Parks were the principal donors of 

 reptiles and batrachians. 



A section of one of the giant trees 

 of California has been placed on ex- 

 hibition and attracts considerable at- 

 tention. , The tree from which the sec- 

 tion was cut was 1,341 years old; it 

 was almost 30 feet in diameter at the 

 base, and had reached a height of 300 

 feet. Cards indicating the discoveries 

 in biology during the life of the tree 

 have been attached to the mounted sec- 

 tion. 



In the Department of Entomology, 

 the Hoffmann collection of butterflies 

 was transferred to the new cases, and 

 the Schauss collection of moths provi- 

 sionally arranged. From the Black 

 Mountains of North Carolina, 7,000 

 specimens were obtained for this de- 

 partment. Tlie death of the Very 

 Reverend Eugene A. Hoff"mann, D.D., 

 LL.D., removed a warm friend of the 

 museum and a substantial support 

 from the Department of Entomology. 



The publications of the scientific re- 

 sults attending the investigations of 

 the museum in various lines progressed 

 during the year. Two numbers of the 

 ' Memoirs ' were issued, namely 'Kwa- 



