54 REPORT OF NATIONAL. MUSEUM, 1923. 



For that reason Doctor Bartscli visited Porto Kico, sailing May 1 on 

 the Navy Transport Henderson. Short stops were made at Guan- 

 tanamo, Cuba; Port an Prince and Cape Haitien, Haiti; Puerto 

 Plata, Santo Domingo City, and San Pedro de Macoris in Santo 

 Domingo, before reaching Porto Rico. A little dredging with a 

 hand dredge was made possible in several of these places through 

 the kindness of the captain commanding the ship, who placed a 

 launch at Doctor Bartsch's disposal. Shore collecting was likewise 

 done wherever possible. A week was spent in Porto Rico, where, 

 through the kindness of the Governor, an automobile was placed at 

 Doctor Bartsch's disposal, which enabled him to see much of the 

 Island and to stop in many places long enough to gather a bag of 

 leaf mould, containing minute shells. The Governor was also kind 

 enough to give Doctor Bartsch a letter to French Maxwell, the vice 

 president of the sugar company at Guanica Bay. Through the kind- 

 ness of Mr. Maxwell, Doctor Bartsch was given not only delightful 

 quarters, but all the help, including a launch, that could have been 

 desired to make his short stay a most profitable one. A large 

 number of specimens of the desired Cerion were obtained, as well as a 

 large series of additional species. All in all about 15,000 specimens 

 were added to the Museum collection as the result of the trip. 



Dr. Hugh M. Smith, Associate Curator in Zoology, spent several 

 months in South America primarily for the study of the fur-seal 

 and other fisheries of Uruguay, during which time he made exten- 

 sive collections for the Museum in all branches, especially fishes, 

 rejDtiles, and marine invertebrates, as already mentioned. He sailed 

 from New York in the Lamport and Holt Line S. S. Vestris on 

 September 23, 1922, returning in January, 1923. The opportunity 

 to collect in Brazil when the steamer stopped was improved, but the 

 main collections were made in the coastal region of Uruguay, espe- 

 cially at the Lobos Islands. The collections form a most welcome 

 addition to our series which are very deficient in material from the 

 region visited. 



The head curator, at the request of the Department of Commerce, 

 was detailed from early in June, 1922, to the end of September, to 

 undertake a tour of inspection of the fur-seal islands of the North 

 Pacific. He joined the party of Assistant Secretary of Commerce 

 C. H. Huston whose primary object was a study of the conditions of 

 the fisheries of Alaska as well as the other economic and commercial 

 problems of that territory. The expedition proceeded from Seattle, 

 Wash., in the coast guard cutter Mojave, and after visiting several 

 localities in continental Alaska, proceeded to the Pribilof Islands, 

 the Komandorski Islands, Petropaulski, Kamtchatka, and Robben 

 Island in the Sea of Okhotsk. The return was made over Hakodate 



