REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 33 



The collections of reptiles received during the year have not been very 

 extensive, the most important being the series furnished by Mr. Gabb 

 from Costa Eica, and those brought in by the expedition of Lieutenant 

 Wheeler. Captain Bendire has furnished a specimen of the rare Helo- 

 denna horridum, a curious Wzurd from Arizona', and several living alli- 

 gators from Florida have been supplied by Messrs. Chandler and Boyd. 

 Mr. John Potts, a correspondent of many years' standing, has again 

 evinced his interest in the Institution by sending a collection of reptiles 

 and fishes from Mexico. A living sea-turtle from Florida was presented 

 by the honorable Secretary of the Navy, and a giant snapping-turtle of 

 the Mississippi, by Mr. Boyd. Dr. Eeuss has furnished collections of 

 reptiles from Illinois, Professor Sumichrast others from the Isthmus of 

 Tehuantepec, Mr. John Queseda the poisonous serpents of Nicaragua, 

 and a series gathered during the operations of the Northern Boundary 

 Survey was brought in by Dr. Coues. Mr. Meek obtained from Florida 

 a specimen of Elajjs distans, a serpent to which reference has already 

 been made, as previously known only in Arizona. 



The collections of fishes embrace some of the most noteworthy addi. 

 tions of the year, these having been made with special reference to the 

 operations of Professor Baird as United States Commissioner of Fish 

 and Fisheries. The most important of these were gathered by himself 

 on the coast of New England, especially in the vicinity of Noank, 

 Conn., where he had his headquarters during the past summer. These 

 embrace fidl series of all the kinds known to occur in those waters, sup- 

 plemented by rare specimens sent by his agents and correspondents at 

 Wood's Hole, Portland, and elsewhere. Large numbers, too, of the 

 fishes of the great lakes and of the Mississippi, &c., have been sup- 

 plied, among them specimens of the grayling of Michigan and of Mon- 

 tana, including several new species ; and series of white-fish from Maine, 

 New Hampshire, and elsewhere, have also been received. Mr. E. G. 

 Blackford, the well-known dealer in fish at Fulton Market, New York, 

 has been especially serviceable in this connection by keeping a sharp 

 watch over the rare and curious fish coming into New York, and send- 

 mg them suitably packed in ice to Washington. By means of the vari- 

 ous fresh fishes thus obtained, the series of casts of the food-fishes of 

 the United States, commenced a few years ago, has been greatly ex- 

 tended during the past season, this now numbering over three hundred 

 specimens, painted carefully from nature, and representing fislies and 

 cetaceans, some of them of nearly a thousand pounds weight. This 

 collection of casts is unique in this country, and is only represented on 

 a smaller scale by that of Mr. Frank Buckland, in Loudon, and that of 

 the natural history museum of Trinity College, Dublin. 



Other specimens of fishes are those from thQ coast of Virginia, sup- 

 plied by Prof. H. E. Webster ; skeletons of the fishes of South Carolina, 

 from Mr. G. E. Manigault j specimens from the Sacramento Bay, sent 

 3 s 



