EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1021. 87 



viciaii rocks of the Appalacliian and Mississippi Valleys during the 

 first three and last two months of the fiscal year. Accompanied by 

 his assistant, he studied numerous areas to determine doubtful geo- 

 logical points, during the course of which he obtained valuable col- 

 lections which will come to the National Museum. 



Early in the year Assistant Curator J. W. Gidley was detailed to 

 visit Williamsburg, Ya., to investigate a reported find of some fossil 

 bones in that vicinity. These proved to be the remains of an extinct 

 species of whale of Miocene age, but were incomplete and too badly 

 damaged to make possible the recovery of a sufficient number for an 

 exhibition mount. 



Two other important field expeditions were undertaken hx Mr. 

 Gidley during the year, the first as the result of reports from Mr. 

 Kirk Bryan, of the Geological Survey, who had discovered some 

 promising localities for fossil A'ertebrate remains while maldng an 

 extensive survey of the underground water resources in the San 

 Pedro Valley of Arizona. Mr. Gidley spent two months or more in 

 the Arizona field, visiting three localities in the San Pedro Valley 

 and one in Sulphur Springs Valley. The last yielded only fragmen- 

 tary remains of Pleistocene mammals, but much better results were 

 obtained in the San Pedro Valley, where two localities, one about 

 2 miles south of Benson, the other at the Curtis ranch, about 14 miles 

 south of Benson, yielded remains of about 30 species, mostly mam- 

 mals, which seem to represent a new or little-known Pliocene faima. 

 Mr. Gidley shipped 21 boxes, with an aggregate weight of about 

 4,630 pounds. A portion of this material will be suitable for ex- 

 hibition, the most important being remains sufficiently complete to 

 form the basis of skeleton restorations of a rare species of mastodon 

 and a large edentate. Other remains represent extinct species of 

 camels, carnivorous animals, rodents, turtles, and birds. 



The second expedition, entirely under Museum auspices, included 

 a trip to Agate Springs, Nebr., where was secured a large slab, or 

 block of limestone containing remains of the little rhinoceros Dicera- 

 therium cooli. This will be cleaned and exhibited with the bones 

 in situ. 



Mr. C. W. Gilmore was detailed in April to visit a fossiliferoug 

 area some 36 miles north of Santa Fe, N. Mex., for the purpose of 

 making collections of paleontological material, and for determining 

 the advisabilit}" of reserving certain lands for national monument 

 purposes. A skull, lower jaws, and other bones of an extinct rhi- 

 noceros, various limb and foot bones of a camel, and a small collec- 

 tion of miscellaneous specimens were obtained as a result of this trip. 



Worh of preserving and installing the collections. — Numerous 

 minor changes have been made in the exhibition collections by the 

 addition of new material. A special case to accommodate two large 



