46 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



tbe year by means of the specimens of marine animals collected by 

 Professor Baird as United States commissioner of tish and tislieries, and 

 his assistants and associates. In addition to the collections made on 

 the coast of Maine, the Institution has received, through the conniiis- 

 sioner of lish and lisheries, a valuable series of the salmon of the Penob- 

 scot Eiver from Mr. Atkins; of the blue-backed trout of the Eangely 

 Lakes from Mr, Stanley; and lake-trout and land-locked salmon of the 

 Saint Croix from Senator Edmunds. Marine animals in great variety 

 and of much interest were also collected for the fishery commission iit 

 Fort Macon, Xorth Carolina, by Dr. H. C. Yarrow, assistant surgeon of 

 the United States Army, supplemented by others from Dr. Mackie. 



The donations from the interior of the Atlantic coast States consisted 

 of Indian relics from Mr. Kellogg, of Connecticut; minerals and rocks 

 of South Carolina from Mr, Waldo; and various specimens of birds from 

 Florida from Mr. George A. Boardman. Tbe trustees of the Charleston 

 College have been kind enough to lend to the Smithsonian Institution, 

 to be copied in plaster, several unique objects of ethnology. 



Proceeding to the regions south of the United States, we may men- 

 tion, first, contributions from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, furnished by 

 Professor Sumichrast, these consisting of numerous birds and reptiles, 

 in continuation of similar collections previously transmitted. Mr, Flor 

 entin Sartorius, of Vera Cruz, also furnished specimens of the rare and 

 curious wax-producing insects first described as Lijstra cerifera. 



From Guatemala have been received collections of insects, presented 

 by Mr. F, Sarg, and from Nicaragua a collection of rare pottery, by Dr, 

 Earl Flint. Certain collections made several years ago by Dr. Bcrendt 

 near Belize were received during the year, consisting principally of rep- 

 tiles and shells. As these w^re gathered at the expense of the several 

 contributors to a common fund, they were assigned for distribution to 

 Mr. Thomas Bland and Professor Cope, 



Of South American regions, New Granada is represented by a col- 

 lection of birds presented by the American minister at Bogota, Mr, 

 Hurlbut ; Southern Brazil by the skeleton of a tapir from ]Mr, Albu- 

 querque; and Chili by a very valuable collection of native minerals 

 from the University of Santiago, through Professor Domeyko, and a 

 collection of Chilian eggs of great interest from the national museum, 

 through Dr. Philippi, 



Perhaps the most interesting South American object is a human head 

 prepared by the Jivaro Indians of the province of Chimborazo, Peru, 

 and presented to the Smithsonian Institution by Don Edward do Feig<'r, 

 through the honorable liumsey Wing, United States minister to Ecua- 

 dor. This head belongs to a very rare series of ethnological objects, of 

 which a very few only have been brought to Europe and America. They 

 are held by their owners iu much veneration, and jealously guarded as 

 household divinities. They are believed to be trophies of victories ; the 

 head of an enemy being thus prepared for permanent preservation. The 



