REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 15 



sioner, and a staff of associates. It contains a preliminary catalogue 

 and synopsis of the collections exhibited by the United States Fish 

 Commission and by special exhibitors ; a concordance of the official 

 classification for the use of the juries; collection of economic crusta- 

 ceans, worms, echinoderms, and sponges, by Richard Rathbun ; a cata- 

 logue of the aquatic and fish-eating birds, by Robert Ridgway ; a cata- 

 logue of the economic mollusca and the apparatus and appliances used 

 in their capture and preparation for the market, by Lieut. Francis 

 Winslow, U. S. N. ; the whale-fishery and its appliances, by James 

 Temple Brown ; a catalogue of the collection of fishes, by Tarleton 

 H. Bean ; a descriptive catalogue of the collection illustrating the 

 scientific investigation of the sea and fresh waters, by Richard Rath- 

 bun ; a catalogue of the aquatic mammals, by Frederick W. True ; 

 a catalogue of the collection illustrating the fishing vessels and boats 

 and their equipment, the economic condition of fishermen, anglers' 

 outfits, &c., by Capt. Joseph W. Collins ; a catalogue of the apparatus 

 for the capture of fish, by R. Edward Earll; a catalogue of fishery 

 products and of the apparatus used in their preparation, by A. How- 

 ard Clark ; and a catalogue of the fish-cultural exhibit, by R. Edward 

 Earll ; the whole forming (with introductory matter and general index) 

 an octavo volume of 1333 pages. 



Report on the Reptiles and Batrachians of North America. — The Smith- 

 sonian Institution may claim the credit of having done more than any 

 other organization or any individual in furnishing to the students and 

 naturalists of the country convenient and effective text-books for the 

 determination of the natural history of the United States and North 

 America. In proof of this it is sufficient to point to what has been done 

 in the way of systematic treatises on mammals, birds, fishes, certain 

 groups of mollusks, &c. 



Although a number of monographs of reptiles have been published 

 more or less directly under its auspices, such as that of the serpents 

 and other groups, there ife still lacking a compact manual of both the 

 reptilia and batrachia ; and arrangements were accordingly made with 

 Professor Cope, of Philadelphia, to supply this want. This gentleman is 

 well known for his professional acquaintance with these groups as studied 

 by him in the collections in the Museum of the Academy of iTatural Sci- 

 ences of Philadelphia, the ]!^ational Museum of Washington, and else- 

 where. An agreement was therefore made with him for the preparation 

 of a much-needed manual on the reptiles and batrachians of North Amer- 

 ica ; a year's time being allowed, at a suitable compensation, for the final 

 and critical examination of the collections of the National Museum and 

 the preparation of the report. In this way the entire field of the ver- 

 tebrates of North America will have been completelj^ covered. 



Proceedings of the National Museum. — This series, somewhat allied to 

 the series of "Bulletins," comprises papers relative to the collections — 



