REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 15 



EXPLORATIONS AND FIELD WORK 



In the furtherance of its investigations in many branches of science, 

 the Smithsonian sent out or cooperated in 19 expeditions, which 

 worked not only in many States in the United States but also in a 

 number of foreign lands as well. 



Dr. W. F. Foshag continued his survey of the mines and mineral 

 localities of Mexico and added valuable mineralogical specimens to the 

 Smithsonian's collection, now the greatest assemblage of Mexican ores 

 and minerals extant. Dr. C. Lewis Gazin directed an expedition to cen- 

 (ral Utah in search of remains of extinct vertebrate ainmals and par- 

 ticularly to investigate the Cretaceous and Paleocene formations ex- 

 posed along the east side of the Wasatch Plateau. Drs. Josiah Bridge 

 and G. Arthur Cooper visited localities in Utah, Nevada, Texas, and the 

 Midwest to collect Paleozoic fossils, needed to fill gaps in the National 

 Museum collection, and also to examine and collect from Lower Ordovi- 

 cian sections in the western States in order to obtain more exact infor- 

 mation for use in the interregional correlation of these rocks. Dr. 

 Cooper also spent a month studying the rocks and fossils of the Middle 

 Ordovician in the Southern Appalachians. James H. Benn quarried 

 out and brought to Washington for study a large slab of beautifully 

 preserved fossil sea urchins (echinoids) from the bluffs bordering 

 Chesapeake Bay at Port Republic, Md. 



Dr. W. M. Mann conducted an expedition to the Argentine to col- 

 lect live animals for the National Zoological Park; the trip resulted 

 in the addition of 316 specimens to the collection, a number of which 

 had never before been exhibited at the Zoo. Dr. Alexander Wetmore 

 collected birds in southern Mexico, gaining information on the dis- 

 tribution of variable forms and on the movements of northern migrants. 

 W. M. Perrygo collected birds and mammals in North Carolina to 

 fill gaps in the National Museum's study collection, and H. G. Deignan 

 visited European museums to study type material and other relevant 

 specimens in connection with his work on the birds of Siam. Dr. 

 Leonard P. Schultz accompanied the Navy Surveying Expedition to 

 the Phoenix and Samoan Islands and obtained, in addition to 14,000 

 fishes, many hundreds of specimens of the fauna and flora of the region. 

 At the invitation of Capt. G. Allan Hancock, Dr. Waldo L. Sclmiitt 

 participated in the expedition to the north coast of South America, 

 where boat dredging and shore collecting resulted in the acquisition 

 of valuable specimens of marine life. Capt. Robert A. Bartlett, on his 

 annual summer trip to the Arctic, collected for the Institution a quan- 

 tity of material, including five specimens of a very rare 10-armed 

 starfish. Austin H. Clark continued his study of the butterflies of 

 Virginia, collecting many fine specimens including one species new to 

 the Virginia fauna. 



