EEPOET ON NATIONAL MUSEUM. 145 



The condition of the collections in this department of the Museam can now be con- 

 sidured as exceptionally good, considering the restricted quarters in which they are 

 contained. It was the first care of the curator, when he entered upon his duties, in 

 the fall of 1830, to examine every part of the collection with reference to its safe 

 keeping, and every new accession has been unpacked as soon as it was received, in 

 order that no destruction might result from long storage. The dry specimens have 

 all been removed from the basement rooms, which are too damp for the preservation 

 of such materials, and the entire alcoholic collection has been examined at least once a 

 year, for the jiurpose of replacing alcohol lost by evaporation or the crackiug of jars. 

 It is impossible to state the number of specimens or species now belonging to this de- 

 partment, as large portions of the collection are still uncatalogued and larger portions 

 un-identified. The reserve series is very extensive and contains much unique mate- 

 rial. The dry reserve specimens of corals and sponges have been mostly mounted and 

 placed on exhibition, as have also representatives of all the groups of echinoderms 

 and a few of the crustaceans. The exhibition series, thus far prepared, contains the 

 following number of specimens: 



Corals, 734. Sponges, 235. Echinoderms, 510. Crustacea, 47. 



The National Museum suflfered severely by the Chicago tire of 1871, which destroyed 

 almost all of the alcoholic reserve series of crustaceans and radiates, as already ex- 

 plained. The reserve series as now constituted has been derived from innumerable 

 sources, of which the following are the most prominent, either from the size or value 

 of the collections furnished : 



From the United States Exploring Expedition: About 50 types of Dana's species of 

 crustaceans, partly dry and partly alcoholic, have been left to the Museum, and are 

 still in good condition for examination. A large number of the corals obtained by 

 the same expedition and named by Dana are also intact, and, although they have 

 suifered much from rough handling, they still form the most important feature of the 

 exhibition series of corals. A few of the United States Exploring Expedition sponges 

 were also saved. 



From the North Pacific Exploring Expedition: A small number of Stimpson's types 

 of crustaceans and many dry echinoderms were retained at Washington, and thereby 

 escaped destruction. 



From the United States Fish Commission : As elsewhere stated, the Fish Commission 

 collections constitute the bulk of the materials in nearly all the branchcsof this depart- 

 ment. These collections are especially complete for the New England coast as to 

 the decapod and isopod crustaceans, pycnogonids, worms, echinoderms, andanthozoa, 

 and include large quantities of unidentified crustaceans and radiates from the South 

 Atlantic coast, collected by Messrs.Earll and MacDonald ; from the Gulf coast, by 

 Mr. Silas Stearns, and from the Pacific coast, by Prof. D. S. Jordan. 



From the Bermuda Centennial Commission: A fine collection of Bermuda corals. 



From the Museu Nacional de Eio de Janeiro : A complete collection of Brazilian 

 corals. 



From Mr. John Xantus : An old collection of corals and other specimens from Southern 

 California. 



From various naval expeditions, including the Transit of Venus Expedition, the 

 Palos Expedition, and the Alliance Arctic Expedition : Numerous collections of radi- 

 ates, crustaceans, and worms. 



From Dr. T. H. Streets, U. S. N., and Dr. William H. Jones, U. S. N. : Similar 

 collections from several sources. 



From the Uuited States Coast Survey: Alaskan collections of crustaceans, worms, 

 radiates, and sponges, collected by Mr. William H. Dall. 



From the United States Signal Service parties in Alaska, including Mr. E. W. Nelson. 



From Mr. L. Turner and the party at Point Barrow : Miscellaneous collections. 



From the United States Coast Survey steamer ^Jafce: Crustaceans, crinoids, authozoa, 

 and sponges, received from Prof. Alexander Agassiz. 

 H. Mis. 26 10 



