REPORT ON THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY, 

 By Leonhaed Stejneger, Head Curator. 



Notwithstanding the fact that the war practically came to an end 

 during the first half of the year covered by this report, the effect of 

 the war activities, as far as this department is concerned, were felt 

 with even greater force than during the previous year. Not only was 

 the exhibition series closed and practically inaccessible till within a 

 short time of the end of the year, but the falling off in the accessions 

 and the decrease in the scientific output is more pronounced than a 

 year ago. 



It is true that the total number of specimens received this year, 

 namely, 482,740, vastly exceeds that of last year, which was only 

 99,660, but that is solely due to the incorporation of a single collec- 

 tion of 400,000 specimens mentioned in some detail below. This col- 

 lection, however, was not in any sense the result of this year's ac- 

 tivity, as it had been accumulated during many years. 



Tliis slackening of the pace has not been without its compensation. 

 It is a deplorable fact that the scientific staff of the department of 

 biology for many years past has been too small to keep abreast of the 

 accumulation of material which it is not in a position to control or 

 regulate. During the past period of diminished intensity it has been 

 possible to catch up many loose ends and to bring the work up to 

 date in several of the divisions. This has been accomjjlished to a 

 great extent by the employment of temporary assistance. 



It need therefore cause no surprise that the number of accessions 

 (560) and their scientific value, on the whole, did not equal that of 

 normal years, and scarcely even that of last year. I am happy, how- 

 ever, to be able to report one conspicuous exception, namely, the 

 donation by Mr. John B. Henderson of his unrivaled private collec- 

 tion of Antillean land mollusks, consisting of about 30,000 lots 

 (approximately 400,000 specimens). According to the report of the 

 curator of marine invertebrates, Dr. P. Bartsch, " it is by far the 

 most complete and extensive collection of Antillean land shells in the 

 world, and is notable not only for the fact that it contains almost all 

 the known species of this exceedingly rich fauna but because it in- 

 cludes so large a proportion of types, cotypes, topotypes, and author's 

 specimens. These author's specimens have been acquired during the 

 past 25 years by purchase of numerous collections from men who a 

 generation ago exchanged with the original collectors and authors of 



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