144 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Ser. 



in which the Academy personnel is most interested. Besides the work 

 done on the Pribilof Islands, specimens were obtained at Seattle, Un- 

 alaska, and Woody Island, near Kodiak, Alaska. Land and freshwater 

 shells were secured at these places, and dredging was done whenever 

 weather conditions would permit. The Department of Invertebrate 

 Paleontology thus secured 3,000 specimens. In addition to these collections 

 the attempted boring of an artesian well on St. Paul Island by the Navy 

 Department furnished an opportunity to secure a continuous series of 

 cuttings down to 100 feet below sea level. A very large collection of fossil 

 diatoms thus resulted, the full importance and extent of which can not 

 be estimated at this time. 



The collections of birds, birds' eggs, insects and plants secured on this 

 trip have been dealt with by the curators of the respective departments. 



During the latter part of 1920 the Bureau of Fisheries made a further 

 request for the presence of the curator at a conference on fur-seal matters, 

 called for January 10, 1921, in Washington, D. C. That this request might 

 be complied with, two weeks annual leave was granted. Entire approval 

 was expressed with regard to the methods of census computation developed 

 by the writer. 



On the return from Washington a brief stop was made at Austin, Texas, 

 where a large collection of recent land and freshwater shells, and marine 

 Cretaceous fossils was secured. At the close of the year these specimens 

 had not been assorted or classified. 



The trip to Washington and return on Government transportation 

 furnished an opportunity, which could not be overlooked, to visit an im- 

 portant, but little-known. Tertiary horizon in southern California at little 

 expense to the Academy. This is in the general region of Carriso Creek, 

 Imperial and San Diego counties. Dr. Roy E. Dickerson, the former 

 curator, had borrowed the material from this locality which had been 

 collected by the U. S. Geological Survey and the University of California, 

 but had been unable to complete the study he contemplated. Upon looking 

 into the matter with a view to returning the borrowed collections to their 

 owners, their importance from a geological standpoint was very evident. 

 Professor Bruce L. Clark, of the University of California, urged that the 

 relations of the fossil fauna be determined, if possible. The best preserved 

 specimens of the various species were accordingly taken to Washington, 

 where direct comparisons could be made with closely related species from 

 the West Indies and other places. 



It then appeared more evident than ever that this deposit of shells and 

 other fossils promised to reveal many unknown facts regarding the former 

 connection of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. A larger collection and 

 better material were imperative; and at the time this report is being writ- 

 ten, field work is in progress, and it is hoped that before it goes to press 

 it will be possible to state briefly the success of the undertaking. 



Besides the collections made by the curator, some others should be 

 mentioned. Dr. Roy E. Dickerson brought to the Academy in 1920 an 

 extensive series of marine shells from the Philippine Islands. Altogether 



