Oct., 1905 Annual Report of the Director. 345 



ibels so prepared is 382. In addition two diagrams illustrating 

 graphically the composition of meteorites were made. The collec- 

 tions of clays, soils and sands have been fully labelled, a total of 

 459 labels, 30 of which were descriptive, having been prepared for 

 this purpose. Ninety comf)lete labels were prepared for the series 

 of oil sands and a total of 385 labels for new specimens in the scries 

 'if ores of gold, silver, copper, etc. made. A total of 1,465 labels 

 has been prepared a^d printed for the Department during the 

 year. All the new material in the Department of Ornithology, 

 as well as a number of skins belonging to the original Cory purchase 

 which had hitherto not been numbered, were card catalogued. A 

 catalogue of the birds of North and Central America, including the 

 names and geographical distribution of more than 3,000 birds, has 

 been prepared and is ready for publication. The Curator of Zoology 

 reports all records in that department as being in a highly satisfactory 

 condition. The year's work in the Museum on catalogues and in- 

 ventories is shown in detail below: 



Accessions. — The most important accessions in the Department 

 of Geology were received from the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. 

 They were, for the most part, the gifts of home and foreign 

 commissions of states and countries exhibiting at the Exposition. 

 The material obtained was all carefully selected under the super- 

 vision of the Curator, and hence represents new and altogether 

 desirable accessions only. In weight the total shipment from the 

 Exposition aggregated about eight tons. The largest and most 

 important acquisition received from any single commission was 

 that from Brazil, which numbered 1,060 specimens. This included 

 several series of ores and minerals of great rarity and importance. 

 The important manganese ore deposits of Brazil are represented 

 by one mass of manganese ore weighing 3,300 pounds and 

 ■by several hundred pounds of ores of the same from other 

 localities. The gold ores are represented by large masses from 



