REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY, 63 



Amono- the important specimens received from the Fish Commis- 

 sion were the types of the tishes MisticJdhi/s ficwnen.si.s^ of the Phil- 

 ippine Islands, and fuil(>j>/(!(i.s fafuwr/, together with the sponges 

 collected in Porto Rico in 181»!>, and identitied l>y Dr. H. V. Wilson, 

 and the holothurians and echini from the same locality, identitied ])y 

 Prof, H. L. Clark. Added to these were the crustaceans and cchino- 

 derms collected by the Commission in the Hawaiian Islands in l!)01; 

 about 1,500 specimens of common species of invertel»rates from Woods 

 Hole, Massachusetts, intended to be made up into sets for distribution 

 to educational institutions; about 1,300 shells and 2,Tr)(l packages of 

 miscellaneous invertelirates of other classes which had accumulated in 

 the laboratories of the Commission; and seven lots of craytishes from 

 Maine, The Commission also transmitted a collection of about 300 

 plants made l)y Messrs. Evermann and Clark in Indiana. 



The Museum having agreed to publish a series of papers l)y Presi- 

 dent I). S. Jorda)i, the Leland Stanford Junior University presented 

 a collection of Japanese tishes, including-the types of species described 

 by Dr, Jordan. Collections of fishes from Panama and Cocos and 

 Galapagos Islands, and of crustaceans from the Hopkins-Stanford 

 Galapagos Expedition of 189S-00 were also presented. 



The Museum purchased from Prof. Pashford Dean some excellently 

 preserved reptiles and invertebrates from Negros Island, Philippine 

 Islands, and Professor Dean presented a collection of fishes from the 

 Nile River, 



A collection of about 300 birds, including many species of importance, 

 was obtained for the IVIuseum l)y Mr. B. S. Bowdish in Cul»a and Porto 

 Rico (see Explorations, p. 61), Mr, Bowdish also obtained several 

 exceedingly rare reptiles, and one new species from these islands, and 

 collected reptiles in Mona Island, from whicli the Museum had not 

 previously received specimens. Other collections of Cuban reptiles 

 and birds were ol)tained by Mr, William Palmer during a two months' 

 sojourn at the eastern end of the island. 



MmnmaU.—A. remarka])ly fine skeleton of an adult Kadiak (Alaska) 

 bear was presented b}^ Mr. J, H, Kidder, The skeleton conveys an 

 even more vivid impression of the strength of this huge beast than the 

 mounted skin recently added to the collection, l\Ir, Harry Pidgeon 

 presented an excellent series of skins of the wild sheep of the north- 

 ern Rocky Mountains, Oris utoneL The Museum was fortunate in 

 obtaining numerous additions to its collection of bats during the year, 

 amounting in all to about 260 specimens, of which 35 were from the 

 Philippine Islands; 58 specimens were the gift of Mr. Charles E. 

 Ashcroft, jr., U, S, Weather Observer at Roseau, Dominica Island, 

 West Indies. 



Dr, E, A, Mearns, U, S, Army, having received word of the strand- 

 ing of a small whale near Newport, Rhode Island, notified the Museum 



