AN ACCOUNT OF THE U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 313 



nearly as many American and British type specimens; and only the British Museum 

 rivals ours in the number of species represented from the whole world. No other 

 collection has so large a representation of deep-sea mollusks and brachiopods, for 

 the study of which the national collection is indispensable. 



Of tlie Department of Insects, Dr. L. O. Howard, the honorary 

 curator, writes: 



Taking the collection as a whole, and aside from the consideration of the individual 

 collections of which it is composed, I should say that its most important features 

 are, first, the rapidly accumulating number of types in all orders, amounting already 

 to more than 3,500 species; and, second, the biologic features of the collection, due 

 largely to the fact that the original deposit by Dr. Riley was mainly biologic in its 

 character, and to the further fact that the biologic accumulations of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture for seventeen years, which have been very great, 

 are now in the possession of the Museum. 



The subjoined statement refers to the source of the different collections now 

 brought together. Looking at the collection as a whole, however, the departments 

 which stand out conspicuously are (a) the collection of North American Noctuida^ 

 (l>robably the most complete in existence), (fc) the collection of jiarasitic Hymen- 

 optera (undoubtedly the largest collection of bred specimens in the world), (c) the 

 orthopterous family, Acridiida^ {d) the homopterous families ('occida;, Aphidiida-i, and 

 PsyllidiB (without doubt the largest accumulation of North American species), (e) 

 the dipterous families Syrphidte and Empida?, (/) the collection of Myriopoda. 



The department is at present in excellent working condition. It contains a very 

 great amount of material in all orders, and in many unusual directions surpasses 

 any collection in the country. Among others the following are of special interest: 



1. The large collection, in all orders, of Dr. C. V. Riley. 



2. All of the material gathered during the past eighteen years by correspondents, 

 field agents, and the ofiSce staff of the Division of Entomology, United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 



3. The greater part of the collection of Asa Fitch. 



4. The large collection, in all orders, of G. W. Belfrage. 



.5. The collections in Lepidoptera and Coleoptera made by Dr. John B. Smith down 

 to 1889, together with the types of the Noctuida' since described by Dr. Smith. 



6. The collection of Lepidoptera of O. Meske. 



7. The collection of Lepidoptera of G. Beyer. 



8. The collection of Coleoptera of M. L. Linell. 



9. The bulk of the collection, in all orders, of H. K. Morrison. 



10. The collection of Diptera of Edward Burgess. 



11. The type collection of Syrphida^ made by Dr. S. W. Williston. 



12. The collection of Ixodida» of Dr. George Marx. 



13. The collection of Myriopoda of C. II. Bolhnan. 



14. Sects of the neo-tropical collections of Herbert H. Smith. 



15. The collection of Hymenoptera of William J. Fox. 



16. The collection of Tineina of William Beuteumiiller. 



17. The large Jai)anese collection, in all orders, of Dr. K. Mitsuknri. 



18. The African collections, in all orders, of Dr. W. L. Abbott, William Astor 

 Chauler, J. F. Brady, the Eclipse expedition of 1889-90 to West Africa, and of 

 several missionaries. 



19. The large collection from south California of D. W. Coquillett, in Coleoptara, 

 Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, and Orthoptera. 



20. The Towneud Glover manuscripts and plates. 



In addition to this material, there are minor collections which have been the 

 result of the work of Government expeditious, or are gifts from United States con- 

 suls and many private individuals. 



