36 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



As regards the distributioa of duplicate specimens to public estab- 

 lislimeuts, &c., the records show 320 entries ; these include donations of 

 specimens to 40 foreign museums and zoologists and to 1G5 home insti- 

 tutions, and embrace 32 sets of mammals, 18 of birds and eggs, 4 of 

 reptiles, (living and dead,) 4 of fishes, 3 of crania, 5 of insects, 03 of 

 shells, 12 of plants, 2 of fossils, 106 of minerals, rocks, and building- 

 stones, 7 of ethnological specimens, and 5 of diatomaceous earths ; in 

 all, 261 lots. 



A table in the appendix shows the total number of specimens dis- 

 tributed, including also those deposited in the care of the Department 

 of Agriculture and the Surgeon-General's Ofifice. 



Of specimens submitted to specialists for examination and report 

 there have been 61 lots : Mammals to H. and J. A. Allen and to Dr. 

 Sclater ; birds to Geo. N. Lawrence ; reptiles and fishes to E. D. Cope ; 

 insects to Messrs. Packard, Scudder, Edwards, Ostensacken, Uhler, 

 Ulke, Stretch, Cresson, Thomas, Glover, Emerton, and Holden ; shells 

 to Messrs. Tryou, Binney, and Sandberger; crustaceans to S. J. Smith; 

 marine invertebrates to A. E. Verrill; plants to IMessrs. Gray, Rothrock, 

 Vasey, Englemann, Oluey, James, and Carson ; microscopic material 

 to IMessrs. Smith and Seaman ; mineral waters to Dr. Loew. 



Six lots additional to the above have been lent for study. 



The number of specimens sent out for investigation is approximately 

 estimated as follows : Mammals, 2,000 ; birds, 000 ; reptiles, 100 ; fishes, 

 100; insects, 7,000 ; shells, 500 ; marine invertebrates, 400; ethnologica, 

 10; packages of microscopic material, 500; plants, 9,000; in round num- 

 bers about 20,000. Some of these are included among the specimens 

 distributed. 



It is no exaggeration to say that 40,000 specimens are represented by 

 the 320 entries in the distribution-book. 



Collecting apparatus has been lent to about fifteen expeditions and 

 collectors, i^rincipally from the stores of the United States Fish Com- 

 missioner. 



GOVERNMENT EXPLORATIONS AND SURVEYS. 



The following is a brief sketch of the surveys made under the au- 

 thority of the General Government during the year 1874, the specimens 

 from which are to be finally deposited in the museum under the care of 

 the Institution. 



Uxplorations and fnirvcys west of tlie 100th meridian, First Lieutenant 

 George M. }Yhceler, Corps of Engineers, in charge. 



Nine separate parties took the field in 1871 for operations in portions 

 of Nebraska, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, The point of 

 departure was Pueblo, Colorado Territory, in the valley of the Arkan- 

 sas. The whole area entered and occupied lies south of the latitude 

 of the Spanish Peaks, except that included in special journeys necessary 



