94 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 11121. 



Mr. J. W. (ridley's long absence in the field prevented the com- 

 pletion of his researches on the Fort Union Primates. However, his 

 studies are nearing an end, and he hopes to present the results for 

 publication in a short time. Some progress has also been made on 

 the study of the Cumberland Cave carnivores. 



Within the year, 347 lots of material have been sent in from vari- 

 ous sources for determination. No inconsiderable amount of time is 

 spent in this work. In the majority of cases, a laboratory test is 

 necessary to determine the nature of the material, and when fossils 

 are submitted, one lot often consists of a number of forms which 

 frequently require careful study. Incidentally, the clerical work 

 necessary to keep track of these, and in writing the reports, is a con- 

 siderable item in the day's work. In addition to this, and aside from 

 inquiries which come direct to members of the staif, 484 letters from 

 persons seeking information on various subjects have passed through 

 the office within the year. 



Various students outside the staff have engaged in researches on 

 the collections, particularly the paleontological. Dr. August F. 

 Foerste, of Dayton, Ohio, spent the summer of 1920 in a study of 

 Silurian cephalopods and Ordovician trilobites; Dr. Arthur Hollick 

 has been engaged for a part of the year studying the Alaskan floras, 

 under the auspices of the United States Geological Survey. Miss 

 Winifred Goldring, of the New York State Museum ; Prof. E. W. 

 Berry, of Johns Hopkins University; Dr. Ralph Chaney, of the 

 University of California ; and Dr. G. R. Wieland, of Yale University, 

 have likewise been students of the plant collections. Mr. A. S. 

 Eomer, of Columbia University, New York, studied our Permian 

 reptilian and amphibian materials in connection with his thesis on 

 comparative myology ; Mr. Childs Frick, of New York, spent some 

 time in looking over our Equus specimens in connection with his 

 studies of the Pacific coast Pliocene and Pleistocene faunas ; and Mr. 

 Eemington Kellogg, of the Biological Survey, studied certain of our 

 cetacean materials as an aid to his investigations of the Pacific coast 

 Cetacea. It might be said that aside from the advantage to the 

 student, the help of these various specialists is of very great benefit 

 to the collections. 



Messrs. Palache, of Harvard University, and Hewett and Larsen, 

 of the Geological Survey, have collaborated on sundryj occasions 

 with Messrs. Shannon and Foshag, as will appear in their publica- 

 tions. Cooperation with the Maryland Geological Survey is shown 

 in the forthcoming Silurian volume of that organization, a work 

 which has resulted in the acquisition of many type specimens 

 by the National Museum. Mr. Bruce Wade, of the Geological Sur- 

 vev of Tennessee, has studied and described the Museum's large col- 

 lection of Cretaceous fossils from that State; Dr. O. P. Hay has 



