REPORT ON NATIONAL MUSEUM. 239 



Recommendations and general remarks. 



I would recommend that the duplicates be disposed of as soon as pos- 

 sible, in order to save time and expense in caring for them. I would 

 also suggest that collectors in regions which have been reasonably well 

 studied should be instructed not to send duplicates in large numbers. 

 Should the Museum at any time need additional specimens of a partic- 

 ular species which is known to be common at a given point it would be 

 comparatively easy to obtain it from one of its collectors. It is to be 

 hoped that a suitable place will soon be provided for the reception of 

 the skeletons of fishes which are now in storage and consequently not 

 available for study. It is essential to the welfare of the collection of 

 fishes in alcohol that a separate fire-proof building be constructed to 

 contain them ; until that is done the collection will never be system- 

 atically arranged and secure against accident. 



In concluding this review of the work carried on in the department 

 of fishes, I take pleasure in acknowledging my indebtedness to my as- 

 sistants, without whose help it would have been impossible to have 

 accomplished what has been done. Mr. Barton A. Bean has been en- 

 gaged principally in labeling and arranging collections, recording 

 accessions and distributions, preparing duplicates for distribution and 

 outfits for collectors, and he has assisted in the correspondence. Ensign 

 H. G. Dresel, United States Navy, has devoted his time mainly to pre- 

 paring bibliography of Atlantic fishes, cataloguing the fishes in jars, and 

 in the identification of recent collections from the Gulf of Mexico and the 

 West Indies. Mr. Peter Parker, jr., has been occupied for the most 

 part in the bibliography of Atlantic fishes, in field work at Wood's Holl, 

 Mass., and in the preparation of the card catalogue. Mr. H. L. Todd 

 has made a large number of excellent drawings and is now producing 

 some of the finest illustrations of fishes extant. 



DEPARTMENT OF INSECTS. 



C. V. Riley, Honorary Curator. 



The work of the department has consisted in mounting and properly 

 taking care of the material received so far as time would permit, but 

 there is a large amount of material, principally alcoholic, which has 

 accumulated for many years, besides that turned over by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, which urgently needs working over and mounting. 

 There is also a great deal of valuable exhibit material that needs prop- 

 erly arranging and labelling. 



The lists given below virtually comprise two sets of accessions, those 

 which are recent and belong properly to the year 1883, and some that 

 were simply received during the year, but collected in previous years. 

 Most of the single specimens reached me in poor condition, and were not 



