EEPOKT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1913. 55 



Dr. Theodore Lynian to the Altai Mountains. It represents 33 spe- 

 cies, of which 13 have been described as new by Mr. Hollister. Mr. 

 Arthur deC. Sowerby transmitted 81 mammals from China and Mon- 

 goha, including a new species; and the Bureau of Fisheries contrib- 

 uted a specimen of a bottle-nosed whale taken at Beaufort, N. C, 

 which proved to belong to a new species, described by Dr. Frederick 

 W. True under the name 2Iesoplodon minim. A valuable addition to 

 the collection of anthropoid apes consisted of the skulls and skeletons 

 of 23 gorillas and 19 chimpanzees, obtained by exchange. The 

 Museum was also fortunate in securing the mounted skin and skeleton 

 of an exceptionally fine male specimen of the okapi from the Welle 

 district of the Congo. This remarkable animal, which is related to 

 the giraffe and was discovered only about 12 years ago, is represented 

 in but few museums. 



The tanning of large and medium-sized mammal skins by contract 

 progressed satisfactorily, and about 275 skins, mostly old specimens 

 in danger of deterioration, were made up by the taxidermist detailed 

 to the division. The labeHng and cataloguing of the Rainey African 

 collection were completed, and the same work with reference to the 

 Merriam collection of North American mammals was well advanced. 

 Over 800 large skulls and skeletons, besides a number of miscellaneous 

 bones, were cleaned by the Museum force, and about 2,400 small 

 skulls, by contract. All of the small skulls and skeletons are well 

 arranged, as are also the lai^e skuUs of carnivores and primates. 

 Cases furnished during the year made possible a temporary arrange- 

 ment of the skeletons of these two orders and of the pinnipeds and 

 rodents, but accommodations are still lacking for the skulls and 

 skeletons of the ungulates. The alcohoHc specimens are suitably 

 provided for, and considerable progress has been made toward their 

 systematic arrangement, that of the bats and insectivores, composing 

 the most important part of the collection, being nearly completed. 



Research work in the division related mainly to Old World mam- 

 mals, though the most extensive single Museum publication of the 

 year was a list of the North American land mammals represented in 

 the Museum, prepared by the curator, Mr. Gerrit S. Miller, jr. A 

 much laiger and more important work by Mr. Miller was, however, 

 issued by the British Museum of Natural History in London, being 

 a catalogue of the mammals of western Europe, which signahzed the 

 conclusion of a task on which the curator had been engaged for a 

 number of years, several of which were spent in Europe. Dr. S. F. 

 Harmer, the Keeper of Zoology in the British Museum, explains in a 

 preface that the possibility of issuing the volume grew up mainly 

 from the studies which Mr. Miller had been conducting independently 

 on the subject, and adds: "As Mr. Miller is on the staff of the United 

 States National Museum the special and cordial thanks of the Trus- 



