80 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



the Bureau of Ainericau Ethnology, made a small collection in western 

 Souora, Mexico, and considerable material collected by Mr. J. B. Lei- 

 berg, a lield agent of the Department of Agriculture, has been received. 



Eleven persons have received material for examination or determina- 

 tion during the year, and six specialists, not members of the staff, 

 have i)rosecutcd investigations in the herbarium. 



Among those who have rendered valuable service to the department, 

 the following are mentioned by the curator : 



Mr. E. G. Baker, of the British Mnsenm, London, England, named and compared 

 specimens with tyi)e8 in the British Mnsenm. 



Mr. W. Botting Hemsley, of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England, critically 

 determined many UmbelliferiB. 



Mr. George E. Davenport, of Medford, Mass., critically determined Mexican and 

 Alaskan ferns. 



Mr. M. L. Fernald, of Cambridge, Mass., made many critical determinations. 



Mr. J. M. Greeuman, of Cambridge, Mass., rendered much assistance in deter- 

 mining Mr. Nelson's large collection of Mexican plants. 



Mr. George E. Osterhout, of New Windsor, Colo., sent some interesting plants 

 from his State. 



Mr. C. (J. Pringle, of Charlotte, Vt., fnrnished many valualjle notes and speci- 

 mens of Mexican Umbelliferic. 



Mr. P. A. Rydberg, of Columbia College, New York City, lent specimens and 

 determined critically a number of large genera, especially rhiisalis and Potentilla. 



Prof. J. M. Coulter, of the University of Chicago, assisted in the determination of 

 a number of new 8])ecie8 of Umbelliferic. 



Mr. W. N. Suksdorf, of White Salmon, AVash., sent specimens of Umbelliferie. 



The material in the herbarium has served as the basis of thirty-seven 

 papers, Avhich have been published during the year by members of the 

 staff and by other collaborators. The titles of these papers appear in 

 the Bibliography (Appendix iv). They include descriptions of six new 

 genera and sixty-seven new species and subspecies. 



More than 17,000 specimens were received during the year, the cata- 

 logue entries numbering 236. 



TRAJJSFEK OF THE NATIONAL IIERIJARIUM TO THE MUSEUM BUILDING. 



Wlien the herbarium was transferred to the National Museum build- 

 ing in 1894:, it was with the understanding that the force engaged in 

 caring for the collection should be continued upon the rolls of the 

 Department of Agriculture so long as the appropriations permitted it. 

 The appropriation for the iiscal year ending June 30, 1897, was largely 

 reduced, however, and the Department of Agriculture was obliged to 

 decline to retain these employees on its rolls any longer. It then became 

 necessary for the Museum to ask for an additional appropriation for 

 the maintenance of the herbarium, and this has been provided for in 

 tlie appropriations for the coming fiscal year. The matter was pre- 

 sented to the Committee on Appropriations by the Assistant Secretary 

 of Agriculture and the Acting Secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion. The letters to the committee urging the necessity of action are 

 here presented : 



