46 EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1908 



of the Australian Museum, Sydney, New South Wales, sent a collec- 

 tion of Australian species, and Mr. Henry Suter, of Auckland, New 

 Zealand, one of New Zealand species, both consisting largel}' of co- 

 types. An excellent lot of land shells from Mexico, including new 

 species, was presented by Dr. Edward Palmer, of the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, and some important Californian specimens 

 were received from Dr. R. H. Tremper, of Ontario, California. 



Dr. Paul Bartsch, the assistant curator of the division, was detailed 

 to accompany the Bureau of Fisheries steamer Albatross to the 

 Philippine Islands, for the purpose of making zoological collections 

 for the Museum. He left Washington on October 9, 1907, and had 

 not returned at the close of the year. While no material has yet 

 been received from this source, it is understood that a large amount, 

 consisting chiefly of marine invertebrates, land shells, and birds, has 

 been obtained. On account of the absence of Doctor Bartsch, the 

 routine work of the division was greatly handicai^ped. The most 

 important result in this direction was the completion of the labeling 

 and cataloguing of the Jeffreys collection, comprising about 110,000 

 specimens, concerning which the curator, Dr. William H. Dall, 

 rej^orts as follows: 



The event which is most prominent in the operations of the year, is the 

 conclusion of the labeling and registering of the Jeffreys collection of British, 

 Mediterranean, North Atlantic, and North European shells. As a very large 

 proportion of the collection has served as a basis for publications by Turton, 

 Bean, Clark, Jeffreys, Weinkanff, and other more modern authors, the material 

 partakes so much of the nature of tyi)es, when the specimens are not the actual 

 figured types (as is the case in a multitude of instances), that the utmost care 

 has been necessary to preserve the identity and the data connected with each 

 lot of specimens. As many abbreviations were used and, in the case of the 

 Porcupine and other deep-sea explorations, often merely the station number 

 was given as locality, the work had to be done with extreme care and very 

 slowly,' for the most part when not hurried by other more urgent duties. 



This work was begun in 1SS3 by Miss Nicholson, who completed the registra- 

 tion and arrangement of the land and fresh-water shells; it has been carried 

 on subsequently under my supervision by others, chiefly by Mr. W. B. ^Marshall, 

 to whose care, assiduity, and perseverance the satisfactory completion of the 

 work is finally due. The entries iu the register, representing single lots of 

 specimens from a single locality, number 27,490; the largest number registered 

 and labeled in any one season was about 4,000 lots. Owing to my absence in 

 the field during some years, nothing was done, as I have supervised every stage 

 of the work personally. The collection occupies the equivalent space in drawers 

 afforded by seven standard table cases, and contains approximately 110,000 

 specimens. 



The further work upon the collection involves writing slips indicating the 

 species present for each half-unit tray, the cards indicating the genei'a in each 

 unit drawer, and the card catalogue of species contained in the collection with 

 reference to the case and drawer in which they may be found. This work, now 

 that the registration of the species and data is safely completed, involves com- 

 paratively little difficulty and no more than the ordinary care required in 

 handling any part of the study collection. 



