94 NINTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



on the Peruvian Amazon, about 3,000 miles from Para. He took with 

 him everything necessary to make collections in natural history, and 

 has signified his intention of spending as much time as possible in 

 gathering specimens of the animals and plants of that little knov^^n re- 

 gion. Nothing has since been heard from him. 



Dr. Thomas Steele. 



Dr. Thomas Steele, a missionary of the American Colonization 

 Society, lelt in the packet Shirley, in November, 1853, ibr Cape Pal- 

 mas. He intended there to make such collections as were indicated to 

 him as of particular interest, for which purpose a quantity of alcohol 

 was sent out to him by the Smithsonian Institution. Some important 

 collections were sent home by him, and it is with much regret that 

 we are informed of his recent death by fever. 



REPORTS OF EXPLORATIONS PUBLISHED IN 1853, 1854. 

 A — Government Reports. 



Captain L. Siigreaves, U. S. A. — Report of an Expedition down the 

 Zuni and Colorado rivers, by Captain L. Sitgreaves, United States 

 Topographical Engineers, accompanied by maps, views, sketches, and 

 illustrations. Washington : Robert Armstrong, public printer, 1853. 

 Public document, 32d Congress, 2d session. Senate executive No. 59, 

 one volume 8vo., pp. 198, 78 plates, and one map. An edition was 

 also published by the House. 



This report is principally occupied by an account of the natural his- 

 tory of the region traversed by Captain Sitgreaves in this and a pre- 

 vious exploration. The mammals and birds are by Dr. Woodhouse, 

 surgeon and naturalist to the expedition : the reptiles by Dr. Edward 

 Hallowell; the fishes by S. F. Baird and C. Girard; and the plants by 

 Dr. Torrey. Six new species are described of North American mam- 

 mals, five of birds, eighteen of reptiles, three of fishes, and ten of 

 plants. 



Captain R. B. Maraj, U. S. A. — Exploration of the Red river of 

 Louisiana, in the year 1852, by Randolph B. Marcy, captain 5th in- 

 fantry. United States army, assisted by George B. McClellan, Brevet 

 Captain, United States Engineers, with reports of the natural history 

 of the country, and numerous illustrations. Washington: Robert Arm- 

 strong, public printer, 1853, two vols. 8vo., pp. 320, 66 plates and 

 two maps. 32d Congress, 2d session, Senate executive No. 54. 



This report includes sub-reports on the minerals, by Professor C. 

 U. Shepard ; on the geology of the expedition, by President Hitchcock 

 and George G. Shumard, M. D.; on the pakeontology, by B. F. Shu- 

 mard, M. D.; on the mammals, by Captain Marcy ; the reptiles and 

 fishes, by S. F. Baird, and C. Girard ; the shells, by Professor C. B. 

 Adams and G. G. Shumard; the orthoptera, arachnida, and myriapoda, 

 by C. Girard; the plants, by Dr. Torrey; and the ethnology by Cap- 



