PROPOSED EXPLORATIONS AND INVESTIGATIONS 269 



Estimate for Second Year. 



Same as for first year $18,400 



with the following- additions: 



One chief botanist (or dendrologist) 3,000 



One assistant botanist 1,500 



Traveling- and field expenses of botanists 2,000 



1 field naturalist, at $2,000 2,000 



1 preparator at central office 1,200 



Expenses at central office and other miscellaneous expenses 300 



Visits to foreign museums to examine type specimens from South 



and Central America 500 



1 administrative assistant at central office 2,000 



Total for second year $30,900 



It is recommended that after the second year an annual increase 

 of ten per cent on this amount be provided for at least ten years. 



No estimate for ilkistrations and reports is here made, as it is sup- 

 posed that these will come under the general provision for publica- 

 tions. 



General remarks. — With the possible exception of Africa, less is 

 known of the fauna of Sotith America than of any other part of the 

 world. In order to secure a broad and properly balanced view of the 

 life of the globe, it is necessary to know approximately the number 

 of generic and specific types of each region. Until this is known, 

 the relative values of the various faunal provinces can not be 

 properly determined. 



Recent investigations of fossil faunas in South America have de- 

 veloped numerous and weighty facts, previously unsuspected, as to 

 the extraordinary composition and unlooked-for relationship of the 

 animals inhabiting this region in the past. But so little is known of 

 the existing fauna that the application and significance of the fossil 

 record with reference to existing life is meager and unsatisfactory. 



By far the greater part of the zoological material heretofore col- 

 lected in Central and South America has found its way to foreign 

 museums, where it is widely scattered. Publications relating to it 

 are mainly in foreign languages, and the descriptions of species are, 

 as a rule, so unsatisfactory that reference to the specimens themselves 

 is necessary for positive identification. This, in the case of Ameri- 

 can workers, necessitates a trip to foreign museums. There would 

 seem to be every reason why America should take the lead in this 

 work ; and it should be done in a broad and thorough way, so that 

 the results would be final and of permanent value. 



