28 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 239 



to six fathoms extended along the shore in the immediate vicinity 

 of our encampment. The requisite variety of station was thus 

 easily accessible and I made the requisite collections in a short 

 time without going more than two or three miles from camp in 

 any dredging excursion. 

 September 13. Camp broke up, and return trip begun. 

 September 18. Passed west of St. Lawrence Island. 

 September 23. Aleutian Islands: Passed between Amoutcha 



[Amukta] and Seguam Islands. 

 October 13. Made California Coast north of Bodega. 

 November 13. Arrived in San Francisco to find Cooper and Hancock. 



From here the expedition was ordered home. 

 July 11, 1856. Arrived in New York. 



Gould selected to do the report on mollusks. — With the 

 return of the expedition, Stimpson went to Washington to work on 

 the collections. His researches on the expedition material were 

 devoted to the invertebrates other than mollusks. According to 

 P. P. Carpenter (1864, p. 582), regarding the shells, "through some 

 unaccountable cause certain of the most valuable boxes were 'lost' 

 between New York and Washington; the remainder were placed in 

 the hands of Dr. Gould for description, with the MS. catalogue, a 

 copy of which forms the Mollusca vol. 1, nos. 1-2003 of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution." 



Although the expedition returned in 1855, it was not until 1859 

 that Gould published the first description of any of the new shells. 

 It is known that he took some of the uncertain shells to London in 

 1857 to compare them with the H. Cuming collection. There is a 

 group photograph in the British Museum (Natural History) of Gould 

 with Hugh Cuming and Wesley Newcomb (the latter was Gould's 

 travelling companion). It was Gould's intention to produce a 

 report on this expedition similar to the one he did on the United 

 States Exploring Expedition. 



In the meantime, Stimpson had received many honors and had 

 been made Director of the Chicago Academy of Sciences. Shortly 

 after his appointment, the structure housing the Academy burned to 

 the ground. The building and contents had been adequately insured, 

 which made it possible for the Academy to purchase new land and 

 put up a fire-proof building. Here Stimpson assembled the manu- 

 scripts, collections, and engravings of a lifetime. Books and speci- 

 mens which he did not possess were freely lent to him by the 

 Smithsonian and by eastern naturalists. 



At Dr. Gould's death, W. G. Binney was appointed his conchological 

 executor and, at the request of Stimpson, the complete manuscript of 

 the report, along with certain notes, were sent to Chicago. So far as 



