REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



Distribution of di(j)Ucate specimens to the end 0/1871. 



31 



Class. 



Skeletons and skulls 



Mammals 



Birds 



Reptiles 



Fishes 



Eggs of birds 



Shells 



Radiates 



Crustaceans 



Marine invertebrates. 



Plants and packages of seeds. 



Fossils 



Minerals and rocks 



Ethnological specimens 



Insects 



Diatomaceous earths 



Distribution in 1871. 



Species. 



Total 



111 



410 

 100 



151 

 ,534 



000 

 151 

 000 

 152 

 204 

 1 



Specini's. 



156 

 40 

 477 

 100 

 100 

 304 

 3, 000 



4,000 

 151 



1,400 

 152 

 204 



,881 



10, 139 



Total to the end 

 of 1871. 



Species. 



941 



22, 940 



1,841 



2, 477 



C, 606 



83,712 



583 



1,078 



1,838 



18, 503 



4,109 



4,630 



1,295 



1, 836 



29 



Specini's. 



152, 743 



827 



1,822 



35, 428 



2,970 



5,311 



16, 698 



186. 157 



778 



2,650 



5,152 



25, 003 



10, 135 



9,974 



1,342 



3,150 



623 



308, 080 



As lieretofore, a great amount of labor has been expended in cata- 

 loguing- the specimens received, their enumeration having been carried 

 forward from 1G1,700 to 109,750, the increase representing about the 

 average of the last ten years. 



As in previous years, the collections of the Institution have been placed 

 freely at the service of naturalists in this country and Europe, and large 

 uumbers of specimens are now in the hands of collaborators. Among 

 these may be mentioned Dr. Elliott Coues, assistant surgeon, United 

 States Army, who has undertaken a critical revision of a special family 

 of Rodents of North America. This group is very extensive, embracing 

 numerous genera and species differing entirely from the corresponding 

 families in the Old World. The large amount of material we have placed 

 in the hands of Dr. Coues will enable him to solve many interesting 

 questions as to the geographical distribution and zoological affinities of 

 the family in question. Dr. Coues' memoir on this group will be pub- 

 lished by the Institution, and series of type specimens will be distributed 

 to otber museums. To Professor Cope have been intrusted, as before, 

 the collections of reptiles, and other material has been furnished to 

 Professor Leidy, Professor Marsh, Professor Agassiz, Dr. Stimpson, and 

 others. Type specimens of American birds have been sent to Messrs. 

 Sclater, Salvin, and Dresser, of London, for use by them in the prepa- 

 ration of descriptive worts. 



