30 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



Mr. Henry Edwards. Bulletin 36 is entitled " Contributions to the 

 Natural History of the Cetaceans, A Review of the Family Delphinidae," 

 by Mr. Frederick W. True. Bulletin 38 has the title: "Contribution 

 towaid a Monograph of the Insects of the Lepidopterous family Noc- 

 tuidae of Temperate North America," and is a revision of the species 

 of the genus Agrotis. This Bulletin, by Mr. John B. Smith, of Rutgers 

 College, New .Tersey, was not actually published until after the close of 

 the fiscal year, although it was put in ty[)e during the year covered by 

 this report. The manuscript for other Bulletins relating to deep-sea 

 fishes, by Drs. G. Brown Goode and Tarleton H. Bean, and to a descrip- 

 tion of the metallurgical collection in the Museum, by Mr. Fred P. Dewey, 

 has been transmitted to the Government Printing Office. 



A large number of papers upon scientific subjects have been Dub- 

 lished by officers of the Museum and other specialists. They are re- 

 ferred to in the bibliography of Museum publications, constituting Sec- 

 tion IV of the separate report of the Assistant Secretary. 



Assistance to students. — The usual facilities have been granted to stu- 

 dents in the various branches of natural history, and several collections 

 have been lent to specialists for comparison and study. Dr. R. W. Shu- 

 feldt, U. S. Army, requested permission to study bird-skeletons. Mr. 

 Bashford Dean, of the College of the City of New York, received fishes 

 for study ; a collection of bats from the British Museum was furnished 

 to Dr. Harrison Allen, of Philadelphia, for comparison and study; a part 

 of the Museum collection of Coleoptera was sent for a similar purpose to 

 Capt. T. L. Casey, of New York City. Several persons have received 

 instruction in taxidermy and photography. 



Special researches. — Several of the curators in the Museum are pre- 

 paring for publication in the Museum Report for 1800 papers which are 

 the result of special investigation and research. Among these may be 

 mentioned a hand-book of the geological collections, by Mr. George P. 

 Merrill; a descriptive paper relating to the collection of humming-birds 

 in the Museum, by Mr. Robert Ridgway; papers relating to Japanese 

 religion and Japanese burials, by Mr. Romyn Hitchcock. Other gen 

 tlemen, not officially connected with the Museum, have also prepared 

 papers for publication in the same volume. 



The Museum Report each year contains a number of descriptive 

 papers of the kind alluded to, and the interest which they have excited 

 among all classes of i)eople has been very great. During this year sev- 

 eral hundred copies of papers of this character, printed in the more re- 

 cently published reports of the Museum, have been distributed free of 

 cost. Among these may be especially noted the " Haud-Book and Cata- 

 logue of the Building and Ornamental Stones in the National Museum," 

 by Mr. George P. Merrill,* and the paper entitled "The Extermination 

 of the American Bison," by Mr. William T. Hornaday."t 



* Printed in the report for 1886 and also separately, 

 t Printed ia the report for 1887 aod also separately. 



