REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1923. 45 



43,696, or less than one-third as many, and yet " the scientific value 

 of the material received in the present fiscal year is probably greater 

 than that of last year's accessions." On the other hand, in the Di- 

 vision of Marine Invertebrates, where there was an increase, the year 

 is characterized as particularly bright, not only because of the re- 

 ceipt of many species new to the collection, among them numerous 

 types (in two of the accessions more than 200 types!), but also, be- 

 cause through the generosity of friends of the Museum, material has 

 been obtained from a number of localities hitherto unrepresented in 

 our collection. 



ACCESSIONS DESERVIXG SPECIAL NOTICE, AND WHY. 



Wliile for the last few years the Australian collections formed one 

 of the most salient features of our accession list, the study material 

 which we have received during 1922-23 from China may be fairly 

 said to characterize the present year. It is hoped that this signifies 

 the beginning of a more systematic attempt to link up the Asiatic, 

 more particularly the palearctic, fauna with our North American col- 

 lections looking to the accumulation of material in this Museum, 

 which will lead to a fundamental correlation of the two faunas. 

 The arrival of large collections from China, made by Arthur de C. 

 Sowerby, Kev. D. C. Graham, and others, therefore, deserve special 

 notice. The material received from the former, and generously pre- 

 sented to the Museum by Eobert S. Clark, contained among others 

 264 mammals, 153 birds, 308 reptiles and amphibians, and 259 fishes. 

 Eev. D. C. Graham sent a large number of insects, some mammals, a 

 number of interesting reptiles and batrachians and about 500 birds, 

 though the birds arrived too late to be included in this report. 

 These two collections contain many novelties and additions to our 

 series of Chinese animals. South America is also prominently repre- 

 sented in the accession list, by a large miscellaneous collection brought 

 back by Dr. Hugh M. Smith as a result of his visit to that continent. 

 The large and important Evezard collection, the Metcalf Opalina 

 type collection and other valuable accessions will be mentioned in 

 detail under the heading of the various divisions to which they 

 appertain. 



Mammals. — Mention has already been made of the 264 mammals 

 collected by A. de C. Sowerby in the province of Fukien, China. A 

 valuable collection of 81 mammal skins and skulls, from the Philip- 

 pine Islands, including 6 type specimens, deposited with the Museum 

 several years ago, were turned over as a gift from the Bureau of 

 Science, Manila. Major W. P. Draper of Hopedale, Mass., presented 

 23 skulls and scalps of African mammals (mostly antelopes) from 

 Kenya Colony, East Africa. Eighty-seven specimens collected by 

 Dr. M. W. Lyon, jr., in Porter Co., Ind. ; skin and skull of a deer and 



