REPORT OK ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 33 



besides many specimens from the smaller tanks. Twenty-five sets of 

 duplicates, each comprising GO specimens, were put up for distribu- 

 tion to educational establishments. A card catalogue of the contents 

 of the many tanks of fishes is in course of preparation. 



The many accessions in mollusks required much attention from the 

 assistants in this division in sorting, labeling, and cataloguing the 

 specimens. About 9,000 entries w^ere made. A part of the land-shell 

 collection was rearranged in accordance with modern classification. 



In the division of inspects much progress was made in the arrange- 

 ment of all the orders, except the Rhynchota and a few minor orders. 



A special ca taloguer was employed in the division of marine inverte- 

 brates for preparing the systematic card catalogue of crustaceans 

 recently identified, the Hawaiian corals from the explorations of tho 

 Bureau of Fisheries, the sea urchins from the cruise of 1891 of the 

 Fisheries steamer Albatross, identified by Dr. Alexander Agassiz, and 

 a large part of the sertularian hydroids, identified by Prof. C. C. Nut- 

 ting. A number of improvements were made in the laboratory equip- 

 ment. The rack S3"stem of installing specimens was adopted for the 

 entire study series of the helminthological collections. This sj^stemi 

 has been shown by experience to make the specimens readily accessi- 

 ble and to permit the employment of unskilled persons in putting 

 specimens in place. Seven hundred bottle racks w^ere purchased for 

 this purpose, and a number of Marlatt slide cases w'ere also obtained 

 for the microscopic mountings. 



In the division of plants 50 standard herbarium cases, 12 half-unit 

 cases, and 15 special cases were added during the year. The entire 

 set of cases now comprises 10,043 compartments or pigeonholes for the 

 storage of mounted plants. With the exception of a portion of the 

 lower cr}^3togams, the entire herbarium is now^ in insect-proof cases, 

 and little trouble has been experienced during the year from plant 

 pests. Herbarium sheets to the number of 28,088 were stamped and 

 incorporated in the regular series, making the total number so treated 

 since 1894, 274,475. Prior to their incorporation all plants are regis- 

 tered in the regular chronological catalogue books, of which there are 

 now 72, 39 being filled and 33 still open. The specimens currently 

 received are still entered geographically, all Mexican plants being in a 

 separate volume, all Alaskan in another, etc. This was impracticable 

 for the older, unentered parts of the herbarium, wdiich are grouped by 

 families. The number of plants mounted, partly b}' contract, partly 

 by preparators, was 22,327. During the year the rearrangement of 

 the herbarium in accordance wdth the system of Engler and Prantl 

 progressed from family 246, Gentianacese, to family 266, Acanthaceae. 



The reserve collections in all the divisions of the Department of 

 Geology are in fair condition, though the systematic card catalogues 

 are still incomplete. In the division of geology proper the collection 



