REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 37 



rnained th<ire until the installation of this exhibit was completed. The 

 exhibit in this division of natural history probably surpassed, in extent 

 and general excellence, any previously made at any ;4reat Exhibition. 

 It was arranged in 21 table-eases, the specimens being placed in inside 

 trays and labelled. The general system followed was a geographical 

 one, and presented a characteristic representation of the more con- 

 spicuous and interesting forms of the various zoological geographical 

 provinces. The exhibit included several cases of the fresh- water mus- 

 sels of the Mississippi drainage area, which is remarkable for the great 

 number and beauty of the shells; also the rare and peculiar forms be- 

 longing to this group from other parts of the world. Tbe land and pond 

 snails of the Mississippi basin were each represented by a separate case. 

 The marine shells of the Atlantic coast of America from the Arctic Sea 

 TO the Caribbean, and the sea-shells of the Pacific coast from Bering Sea 

 to Panama, were also shown, including the principal species inhabiting 

 the tidal areas of Paget Sound to the north and the Gulf of California 

 to the south. Other cases contained selected specimens from the Indo- 

 Pacific region, such as live in the warm waters of tbe great coral areas 

 of the tropical and semi-tropical seas between the shores of Western 

 America and Eastern Asia. Four cases were devoted to the edible 

 mollusca of the United States. Two of these contained clams, cockles, 

 &c., of the Atlantic seaboard, and two cases were devoted to similar 

 forms peculiar to the coast of Western North America from Alaska to 

 San Diego, Oal. The systematic and critical selection of the foregoing 

 involved a great deal of work and the overhauling of a large quantity 

 of material, the accumulation of many years. This labor was however 

 incidentally advantageous to the Museum, as a considerable portion of 

 the work consisted in the examination and partial preparation of mol- 

 luscan material, hereafter to be incorporated in the national collection, 

 and of very great importance for reference in connection with the study 

 of foSsil forms of the Quaternary or even of the Tertiary age. Unlike 

 the results to some other departments of the Museuiu, the Exposition 

 contributed little or nothing to this section, and indeed the Museum 

 was the onlj' contributor of an important molluscan exhibit. 



Department of Insects. — Prof. C. V. Eiley continues to perform the 

 duties of curator without assistance; but arrangements have been made 

 for the appointment of a paid assistant curator for the next fiscal year. 

 Professor lliley reports a number of important accessions, including a 

 large collection of Coleoptera and Lepidoptera sent from Sikkim by the 

 Rev. C. H. A. Dall, of Calcutta. A varied collection of insects was se- 

 cured by the United States Fish Commission steamer Albatross from 

 tlie West Indian region, and an important general collection of alco- 

 holic material was received from Dr. K. W. Shufeldt, U. S. A., stationed 

 at Fort AVingate, New Mexico. The most valuable addition to the collec 

 tion during thes(> six months, from a classiticatory standpoint, however, 

 was the dipterological collection of Mr. Edward Burgess, treasurer of tbe 



