EEPORT OF NATIONAL MITSEfJM, iWk 103 



retention desirable. As soon as the large containers have been dis- 

 posed of — and this has been nearly done — the examination of the 

 smaller jars will be taken up. The work is expected to occupy sev- 

 eral months of the current year, and is one of the most important 

 of its kind that has been undertaken by the Museum. 



Incidental to the reexamination of specimens and the search for 

 types a considerable amount of research into the old literature on 

 the subject of the collections was carried on by Prof. Snyder and 

 Mr. B. A. Bean, the assistant curator. Mr. S. F. Hildebrand, of the 

 Bureau of Fisheries, had the use of the Panama material in connec- 

 tion with the preparation of his report on the fishes of the Isthmus, 

 and other members of the same bureau, especially Dr. William C. 

 Kendall and Mr. L. Radcliffe, consulted the collections. Specimens 

 were lent for study to Dr. Carl H. Eigenmann, of the Indiana State 

 University ; Dr. Louis Hussakof and Mr. J. T. Nichols, of the Ameri- 

 can Museum of Natural History; Mr. C. W. Shepherd, of Kensing- 

 ton, London ; Dr. H. M. Smith, United States Commissioner of Fish- 

 eries ; Prof. C. H. Gilbert and Prof. J. O. Snyder, of Leland Stanford 

 Junior L^niversity ; and Dr. S. E. Meek, of the Field Museum of Nat- 

 ural History. 



Insects. — The deposits of insects by the Bureau of Entomology 

 were exceptionally extensive and notable. The largest and most im- 

 portant was a collection made by the force of the bureau engaged in 

 the investigation of southern field crops, and came chiefly from 

 Texas. When received at the Museum it was contained in about 400 

 Schmitt boxes for the dried or pinned material and 1,000 large vials 

 for the alcoholic material, the total number of specimens being esti- 

 mated at approximately 200,000, about equally divided between the 

 dried and alcoholic preparations. This is probably the best State 

 collection ever brought together, although its full Museum value can 

 scarcely be passed upon until more of the material has been deter- 

 mined and the results incorporated in the records. Other noteworthy 

 accessions from the bureau consisted of some 5,500 specimens col- 

 lected by its employees and others in various localities from the 

 Bahama Islands and Florida to New Mexico, Arizona, California, 

 and Alaska ; and of the material used by Mr. P. H. Timberlake for 

 his revision of the genus Aphycus. The latter comprised about 40 

 specimens of European weevils bred from alfalfa and 79 named 

 reared specimens of the genus, including the types of three new 

 species. 



Of gifts from individuals may be noted 124 vials of parasitic 

 Hymenoptera from Mr. J. P. Kryger; 240 chalcids from Prof. C. F. 

 Baker ; and several accessions from Mr. Frederick Knab, aggregating 

 1,457 specimens, mostly of Diptera, from the District of Columbia. 



