REPORT ON NATIONAL MUSEUM. 231 



"The total number constituting the reserve series is 9,075; of these 

 but 7j28S are as yet entered upon the Museum registers, and for lack 

 of cases only about 100 are placed permanently upon exhibition. For 

 reasons already stated the number of duplicates can only be estimated ; 

 it will, however, probably not vary far from 1,500, making a total for 

 the whole collection of 10,575 specimens, of which only some 1,100 are- 

 as yet entered upon card catalogues. 



"Of the 7,288 specimens at present registered, 3,478 belong properly 

 to the collection of building and ornamental stones, and are mostly of 

 sufficient size to be dressed into cubes of four inches and upwards in 

 diameter, 1,322 having already been thus dressed, and only await proper 

 cases to be placed permanently upon exhibition. The remaining 3,810 

 specimens are mostly hand specimens collected by the United States 

 Geological and various State surveys throughout the country. 



"The collection comprises at present 2,500 thin sections of rocks pre- 

 pared for microscopic study. 



" The following is a list of the apparatus belonging to the depart- 

 ment : 



"1. One machine for grinding thin sections of rocks. 



"2. One diamond saw for slicing rocks. 



"3. One Bonwill's dental engine for sawing, boring, drilling, or cut- 

 ting away the matrix from around fossils. 



"4. One set of blow-pipe apparatus. 



"5. One Crouch binocular microscope. 



"6. One Fuess's lithological microscope. 



"It is eminently desirable that the various specimens constituting 

 the building- stone collection be properly dressed and jjlaced upon ex- 

 hibition as soon as possible. The collection will then contain upwards 

 of 2,000 specimens of building and ornamental stones, representing all 

 the quarries of importance at present worked in the United States, as 

 well as many foreign ones, and will constitute an invaluable reference 

 series. 



APPENDIX D.— LISr OF CONTRIBUTORS TO THE MUSEUM 



IX 1882. 



Aby, Hon. Thomas Y. Alcoholic specimen of viviparous fish {Gambusia 

 patrueUs) ; from near Vicksburg, Miss. 



Abert, Charles. Specimen of bird-skm [Zamelodia ludoviciana) ; from 

 District of Columbia. 



Adams, Br. M. M. Specimen of fungus found growing at root of rad- 

 ish ; from Indiana. 



Adams, Ma yhe IV. Specimen of boat- chock; from Massachusetts. 



Agassis, Prof. Alex. Collection of sponges and crinoids; mainly from, 

 the Blake Expedition. 



