22 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



tiles, fishes, and insects. He also secured some desirable objects from 

 the mounds in the vicinity. 



Mr. A. A. Eobinson, chief engineer of the Atchison, Topeka and 

 Santa Fe Railway, presented eighteen boxes of samples of the building 

 stones found along the line of the railway mentioned, constituting a 

 very important addition to the building stone department of the Na- 

 tional Museum. 



An almost equally valuable collection of building stones from North 

 Carolina was presented by Professor Kerr. 



Additional collections of fossils, bones, &c, were furnished by Mr. 

 Crooks, of New Iberia, La. 



The Atlantic seaboard. — From the Atlantic coast of the United States 

 the most important collections have been those of the United States 

 Fish Commission, and especially from the work of the steamer Alba- 

 tross. These embrace a vast variety of animal species for the most 

 part taken in depths down to 3,000 fathoms. Over thirty new species 

 of deep-sea fishes, of remarkable character, were obtained during the 

 season. It is, of course, understood that the main researches into the 

 temperatures, depths, salinity of water, and other indications were car- 

 ried on, as well as the collection of specimens. 



A most important research into the natural history of the Atlantic 

 coast of the United States has been carried on by the Institution with 

 the co-operation of Mr. S. I. Kimball, Superintendent of the Life-Sav- 

 ing Service. In the early part of the year circulars from the Institu- 

 tion were distributed by Mr. Kimball, which asked for telegraphic 

 notification of the occurrence or capture of any remarkable marine ani- 

 mal, and its careful preservation until word could be received from the 

 Institution in regard to it. 



The arrangement made by the Superintendent of the Life-Saving 

 Service, early in the year, for the telegraphic announcement to the 

 Smithsonian Institution, of the stranding of marine animals has already 

 been productive of important results. The series of specimens thus 

 far received is in every way remarkable, and should the system continue 

 to be so productive it is impossible to say what good may not result to 

 zoology. The first specimen received was that of a shark (Pseudotriacis 

 microdon) from station No. 10, at Amagausett, N. Y., Mr. Joshua B. 

 Edwards, keeper. This species had hitherto been captured only off 

 the coast of Portugal, and its discovery in our waters was a matter of 

 great interest to American ichthyologists. The only specimen known 

 to be preserved besides this one is the type of the species. 



Shortly after this shark was received a still more remarkable animal 

 was announced from station No. 8, at Spring Lake, New Jersey, Mr. 

 Henry S. Howland, keeper. This was a pigmy sperm whale, entirely 

 new to the North Atlantic, and apparently new to science as well. It 

 has been piovisionally named Kogia Goodei. 



