REPOET OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 61 



Dr. G. Baiir, of the Chicago University, has been completed. The 

 type specimens upon which it is based are in the Nation -1 Museum. 



Mr. Kobert John Lechiiiere CJuppy, Port of Spain, Trinidad, whose 

 collection of Antillean fossils was purchased by the jMuseum some years 

 ago, forwarded descriptions of some supposed new species, to be printed 

 in the Troceedings, the types being part of the National Museum collec- 

 tion. The new forms have been ligured, and a joint paper by Dr. Dall 

 and Mr. Guppy, on Antillean Tertiary fossils, has been completed, and 

 is now in the hands of the printer. 



Work on the Neocene fauna of Florida has been carried on as oppor- 

 tunity served, and will be continued until the study is completed. Mr. 

 Charles T. Simpson has continued his studies on the Naiades. The 

 superficial anatomy of a considerable number of species has been exam- 

 ined, and notes and descriptions prepared. Much time has been spent 

 in searching the literature and preparing cards of synonymy for use 

 in a synopsis of the Naiades. 



A number of persons have been engaged in making collections with 

 a view to working out the fauna of their respective localities, submit- 

 ting all puzzling or doubtful forms to the department for examination. 

 These correspondents in most cases donate types of new or interesting 

 material to the national collection. Explorations carried on by Hon. 

 J. D. Mitchell, Victoria, Tex.; Dr. C. F. Newcombe, Victoria, British 

 Columbia; Mr. P. B. Randolph, Seattle, Wash,, and Mrs. T. S. Oldroyd, 

 Los Angeles, Cal., were especially productive of good results. Collec- 

 tions were also made by F. F. Crevecoeur, Onaga, Kans. ; Dr. Charles 

 L. G wyn, Galveston, Tex. ; J. A. Singley, Giddings, Tex., and the Young 

 Naturalists' Society, Los Angele-:, Cal. Eeference has already been 

 made to the material obtained. 



Dr. Dall states that during the year one hundred and forty applica- 

 tions for the identification of specimens, for advice as to conchological 

 literature, etc., were received from more than one hundred different 

 individuals. The furnishing of this information involved the identifica 

 tion of over three thousand species, and the writing of over one thou- 

 sand pages of correspondence by the honorary curator and Mr. Simpson. 

 It has always been the practice to grant requests for the identification 

 of material, but the number of applications in recent years has been so 

 great that it has become necessary to formulate a set of rules ^ by which 

 individuals sending specimens for this purpose should be governed. 

 In these regulations it is stipulated that the material must be sent free 

 of expense to the Museum, unless otherwise agreed upon, and that the 

 localities from which the specimens were obtained, must be given. The 

 Museum reserves the right to retain, except under special arrange- 

 ment, specimens needed to complete the national collection. 



No one, other than those connected with the staff, has been engaged 

 in a regular course of study in the department. Probably as many as 



' Circular 47, U. S. N. M. 



