82 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



from (lol. W. n. Carter, U. 8. Army. A desk and quadrant used ])y Dr. C. F. Hall, 

 on his Fularis Arctic Expedition, were received as a gift from Miss Anne S. Hall, of 

 Cincinnati, Ohio. 



Among the important accessions in archseology were the collection of liint imple- 

 ments, hone utensils, and remains of extinct and recent mammals resulting from the 

 examination of a sulphur spring at Afton, Ind. T., hy Mr. W. H. Holmes, and a 

 very large amount of material, comprising pottery, implements of stone, wood and 

 shell, hones and human remains, obtained hy Dr. Walter Hough during his investi- 

 gations in Arizona, partly in conjunction with Mr. Peter G. Gates. 



About 10,000 prehistoric objects from Georgia, including carvings, spearheads, pol- 

 ished stone hatchets, and other articles of stone, ivory, and pottery, were acquired 

 from Dr. Roland B. Steiner. A collection of the implements used by the ancient 

 inhabitants of Columbia County, Pa. , consisting of stone articles of domestic utility, 

 stone hatchets, banner stones, arrow points, and spearheads, was presented by Mr. 

 Charles Hunnnel, of Espey, Pa., and a large series of prehistoric objects from the 

 Potomac Valley was obtained by purchase. 



Among the accessions in archteology from other countries were over 600 specimens 

 of prehistoric vases, stone figures, carvings and polished instruments, and figures and 

 dishes in earthenware from Mexico, received from Mr. E. 0. Matthews; material 

 from tlie guano caves of Las Cruces, New Mexico, contributed by Mr. J. R. De Mier; 

 an image, mortar and pestle of stone, from Porto Rico, presented by Mr. Henry Bird, 

 and a series of flint implements and bones from the cavern of Kesserlock, Schaff- 

 hausen, Switzerland, donated by Prof. J. Heierli, of the University of Zurich. 



The additions to tlie technological collections include several of historical value, 

 such as pieces of apparatus devised and used by Dr. Elisha Gray in his experiments 

 with harmonic multiple telegraphy and with the telephone, received from IVIrs. 

 Gray; one of the tin-foil records made by Edison's first phonograph when exhibited 

 before the National Academy of Sciences at the Smithsonian Institution in 1878, con- 

 tributed by Mr. William J. Rhees; a number of electric lighting and telephone 

 devices, and one of the early forms of typewriting machines. 



In the Department of Biology the collections sent by Dr. W. L. Abbott from the 

 East Indies, consisting principally of mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects, formed 

 the most important zoological accessions. Of mammals there were 848 specimens, 

 including many new species, from the islands of Andaman, Nicobar, Linga, Sinkep, 

 Johore, and others farther eastward; of birds, over 700 specimens, and of rei)tiles, a 

 considerable number. The region visited by Dr. Al)bott is in large part a new field, 

 not previously represented in the National Museum, and the generous contributions 

 from this indefatigable explorer give the INIuseum a collection from this region 

 which is al)Solutely unrivaled. • 



Other specimens of mannnals received, deserving of mention, were a tine skeleton 

 of the huge Kodak (Alaska) bear, from Mr. J. II. Kidder, of Boston; African ante- 

 lopes and monkeys from Dr. A. Donaldson Smith, of Philadelphia; many skulls of 

 moose, elk, and other deer from Mr. Ernest Thompson-Seton of New York; and a 

 large series of small mammals from Germany and of s(]uirrels from Asia. 



Among ornithological material were about 300 Cuban and Porto Rican birds, col- 

 lected by Mr. B. S. Bowdish; a quantity of Cuban birds collected by Mr. William 

 Palmer; a scries of East Indian birds from the Royal Museum of Natural History at 

 Leiden, Holland; a larger number of l>razilian birds from the Museu Paulista at Sao 

 Paulo, Brazil; besides smaller collections from Mexico, Cocos Island, Hawaii, and 

 (Jreat Britain. Several rare species of birds' eggs were obtained. 



The reptilian collection was enriclie<l by the iield work in Cuba and I'orto Rico of 

 Mr. B. S. Bowdish and INIr. William Talmer. Specimens were also received from 

 Japan, Sumatra, and the I'hilippine Islands. 



