46 REPORT OP^ NATIONAL ' MUSEUM, 1898. 



saurs from the Oretaceovisof western Kansas, two collections of Elasmo- 

 brancli teeth and spines from the Carboniferous of Iowa, and an 

 unusually fine skull and fore-limb bones of Glaosaurus. 



Through the TJ. S. Geological Survey was obtained a small collection 

 of vertebrates, including a new species of Dinictis and a Suilline from 

 the Miocene of Dakota. 



The Section of Invertebrate Paleontology has likewise been greatly 

 enriched, the two most imijortant accessions being gifts. Through the 

 bequest of the late Mr. I. H. Harris the Museum has come into the 

 possession of his private collection of over 20,000 specimens of fossils. 

 Tbis is one of the finest collections ever made from the rocks of the 

 Cincinnati group, and is particularly rich in starfishes, criiioids, and 

 trilobites, and, moreover, contains a number of original types. 



Mr. R. D. Lacoe, of Pittston, Pennsylvania, to whom the Museum is 

 already so largely indebted, has presented his extensive collection of 

 fossil insects. This comprises upwards of 4,040 specimens, of which 

 more than 200 are types. In addition, he also presented 97 other inver- 

 tebrate fossils, 408 vertebrate fossils, and added 132 specimens to his 

 series of fossil plants. Prom the U. S. Geological Survey was received 

 a series of over GOO specimens of Kiiiderhook crinoids, corals, and mol- 

 lusca, and 450 crinoids from the Burlington group in Iowa. In addition, 

 Messrs. Schuchert and White, of the Museum and Survey, made a 

 valuable collection representing the flora of the various Cretaceous and 

 Tertiarj^ horizons of North Greenland. Other valuable materials, 

 including an excellent Placenticeras, 22 inches in diameter, from Dakota, 

 were obtained either by purchase or otherwise. 



The Division of Mineralogy has materially benefited during the year 

 through the acquisition of much new material, including several new 

 and rare s])ecies. 



The Division of Physical and Chemical Geology re})orts the acquisi- 

 tion of a large cluster of basaltic columns from near Bonn, Prussia; 

 some large masses of a beautiful orbicular granite from Sweden; ful- 

 gurites on andesite from Little Ararat in Armenia, besides a large 

 amount of petrographic material from the TJ. S. Geological Survey and 

 other sources. The Economic Series have been enriched through the 

 acquisition of some beautiful clear masses of rock salt from Heilbron, 

 Prussia, collected by the head curator ; kaolins and clays from Germany 

 and Saxony; an excellent series of telluride ores from the Cripple 

 Creek district, Colorado, and other materials which need not be men- 

 tioned in detail here. 



Aside from what has been accomplished in the Division of Mineralogy, 

 but little progress has been made in the work of installing the exhibi- 

 tion series. This is for the reason that the erection of the new galleries 

 in the exhibition halls of the Divisions of Paleontology and Economic 

 Geology, was not completed in season for more than a beginning to be 

 made. Indeed, the new cases in the paleontological halls are not yet 

 in readiness. Moreover, for a period of several weeks the energies of 



