54 KEPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



Department of Reptiles and Batrachians. — Under the charge of Dr. H. C. 

 Yarrow, honorary curator, the usual administrative work has been ac- 

 complished, and an annotated catalogue of the American specimens 

 belonging to the Museum has been published. 



Department of Fishes. — This department is perhaps one of the most un- 

 wieldy in the Museum, its material being for the most part alcoholic. 

 From 1865, when it was thoroughly disorganized by the fire in the Smith- 

 sonian building, up to 1871 this department was without a curator, 

 though subsequently to 1881 the bulk of the collection was largely in- 

 creased every year by the work of the United States Fish Commission. 

 For two years Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, the curator, assisted by Messrs. 

 Parker, Dresel, Miner, and Bean, has been engaged in re-arranging the 

 entire collection and preparing a card catalogue, a task which has been 

 doubly difficult owing to the lack of sufficient room in which to work. 

 The collection is, however, now very well under control, and several 

 thousand bottles have been set aside for the exhibition series. From 

 June to October of this year Dr. Bean, was detailed for special service 

 in connection with the International Fisheries Exhibition, and devoted 

 a considerable portion of this period to the study of the ichthyological 

 collections in London, Paris, Genoa, Vienna, Berlin, and Liverpool, es- 

 tablishing additional relations of exchange in those cities. This de- 

 partment has been, as usual, enriched by the work of the United States 

 Fish Commisson, whereby many new species and genera have been 

 added to the fauna of North America. 



Department of Molluslcs. — This department continues under the charge 

 of Mr. William H. Dall as honorary curator, Mr. B. E. C. Stearns acting 

 during a portion of the year as non-resident assistant curator. The col- 

 lection has been greatly enriched by the acquisition of Mr. Stearns's col- 

 lection of American mollusks and the very rich collections of J. Gwyn 

 Jeffreys, esq., F. G. S., &c, of London. 



Department of Insects. — The Museum is still unfortunately without a 

 collection of entomological specimens worthy of the name, the valuable 

 collections accumulated by the Government service havingyears ago suf- 

 fered destruction in the hands of the Department of Agriculture, with 

 whom they were deposited. Prof. 0. V. Biley, who is acting as honor- 

 ary curator of this department, has deposited his extensive collection of 

 American insects in the Museum, and it is hoped that in time this may 

 become the property of the United States. 



Department of Marine Invertebrates. — The collections of crustaceans, 

 radiates, worms, and protozoans are administered in charge of Mr. Bich- 

 ard Bathbun, being grouped together under the general heading of 

 "Marine Invertebrates." The west hall of the Smithsonian building 

 has been assigned to this department for exhibition purposes, but is 

 still occupied in large part by collections belonging to other departments, 

 so that the curator has had but little opportunity for perfecting the ex- 

 hibition series. Very extensive progress, however, has been made dur- 





