70 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 31K)2. 



fer from the U. S. Department of Ag-riculture in 1894 it has expended 

 each year, as ao-reed upon, th(^, sum of $10,000, a larger amount than 

 allotted to any other division. I n the present quarters, however, it can 

 not hope for the facilities which a less crowded building would afford. 

 On the other hand, it is to be stated that the division has not main- 

 tained an extensive exhibition series, as has been the case with ivearly 

 all other divisions of the Museum. 



Plans of the new cases adopted for the Division of Plants were sent 

 b\' request to Mr. F. D. Gardner of the Porto Rico Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, and to ]\lr. K. L. Morris, director of biology, 

 Washington higli schools. 



CATALOGUE HOOKS. 



Tlie supply of catalogU(^ books for the several divisions having been 

 exliaustcd, the opportiuiity was taken to revise the headings, which had 

 been in use with but little modilication for about tifty years. After 

 Pull consideration it was found impracticable to make the catalogues 

 conform to thos(^ of the other two departments of the Museum, l)ut by 

 introducing two columns without headings a form was devised which 

 can ))e used ])y all tho divisions of the Department of Biology, except 

 the Division of Plants. The size of the l>ooks was not changed. 



SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHES AND I'UKLI CATIONS. 



As already said in another place, nuich of the work done during the 

 year covered l)y this report was continuation of work begim last year 

 or earlier. The first volume of the large manual ly ]Mr. K. Ridgway, 

 entitled Birds of North and Middle America, which was mentioned 

 last year, was published on October 21, 1001. The second volume is 

 nearly I'eady to issue, and the third volume is well und«H"way and will 

 piobably go to press sometime during the coming year. Mr. Ridgwaj^ 

 has had little time for othcM" duties than reading pi'oof and completing 

 manuscript on this work. 



Dr. C W. Richmond pri^pared a report on the large collection of 

 birds from the Andaman and Nico])ar islands i)resented 1)y Dr. W. L. 

 Abl)ott, and identitied the collections from Linga Island, Sumatra. 



Much of the time of Dr. Stejneger was occupied in re-identifying 

 the general. collections of n^ptiles and batrachians prepai"atory to their 

 re-arrangement in tiie new cases already mentioned. Although this 

 work affords nothing for j)ublication, it amounts to a revision of man}' 

 genera. The investigations of the reptile faunas of the Antilles and 

 of Japan, mentioned in last year's report, were continued. The mono- 

 graph on the reptiles and batrachians of Porto Rico was not completed 

 as expected, owing to the receipt of new material from Mona Island 

 which re(juired description and illustration. In the course of his 



