66 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



the late Dr. Herman Strecker, but most of the moths yet await 

 identification. Several thousand South American moths of the 

 commoner species were given to the custodian by Mr. Wm. 

 Schaus, and have been distributed, but not fully named. The 

 collection, as a whole, has been arranged, the duplicates separated 

 and all tire named species catalogued by means of a card catalogue 

 by specific names. The collection has the largest room of any 

 of the orders of insects, and is the first one to be completely in 

 stalled in the regular Museum drawers ; thanks to the interest and 

 help of the assistant curator, Mr. W. H. Ashmead. It is as well 

 housed as can be expected in the present Museum building. 



In the summer of 1901 I made an arrangement with Mr. Wm. 

 Schaus whereby his large collection of American butterflies came 

 into my possession and was placed on deposit in the Museum, 

 with the intention of ultimately donating it. It contains 10,000 

 specimens and fills nearly 200 drawers. The butterflies of both 

 North and South America are very fully represented, and it con 

 tains the types of 200 species described by Mr. Schaus, with 

 those of a few described by Mr. Godman in the Biologia Centrali- 

 Americana. 



Thus at the end of the year 1901 the National collection of 

 Lepidoptera at last begins to show respectable proportions. 

 There are now 99,500 specimens representing 12,1^0 species, with 

 about 18,500 more specimens in the duplicate collection, 3,490 

 inflated larvas, the types of 1,246 species and varieties, besides a 

 great mass of alcoholic larvae, cocoons, eggs, etc. 



As compared with older collections, like that of the British 

 Museum, it naturally appears still in its infancy. Of the families 

 Syntomidce and Arctiidae, recently catalogued by Sir G. F. 

 Hampson, the British Museum contains fully 75 per cent, of the 

 world species. Our museum cannot count over one-sixth as 

 many. The same proportion doubtless holds throughout most of 

 the families of the moths. The butterflies would show somewhat 

 more favorably. It should be remembered that but little support 

 has been accorded the collection in a financial way. There is no 

 fund for the purchase of specimens, and the salaried custodians 

 have always been too few. Fortunately the Department of Agri 

 culture has lent a continued and very essential aid. We recipro 

 cate by the loaning of material and the services of the custodian 



