34 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1925 



modern methods and additions have been made to the collections 

 exhibiting tlie local fauna. A second group not quite completed is 

 that of the dik-dik, a diminutive anteloi^e from Africa. 



Geology. — Although a decrease is shown in the number of acces- 

 sions and amount of material received in this department as com- 

 pared with 1923-24, reference to earlier reports shows the present 

 j'-ear to be an average one, with a total of 198 accessions, aggregating 

 79,074 specimens. 



The paleontological collections are again the chief beneficiaries, 

 notable among the acquisitions being the results of Secretary Wal- 

 cott's field work for the past four years, as well as collections made 

 by Doctors Bassler, Resser, and Ulrich in the summer of 1924. 

 Gifts also materially increased the collections of invertebrate fossils, 

 particularly those of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic periods, and one 

 bequest added many thousands of specimens, including types. 



In vertebrate paleontology the most important acquisition is a 

 series of footprints from Permian deposits secured by Mr. C. W. 

 Gilmore from the Hermit Trail, Grand Canyon National Park, 

 working under the auspices of the National Park Service. Dr. J. C. 

 Merriam, of the Carnegie Institution,^ of Washington, who was 

 instrumental in perfecting the arrangements under Avhicli this ma- 

 terial was secured, supplemented it bj' additional specimens taken 

 personally. The fossil cetacean collection has also been materially 

 increased and is now thought to be probably the largest and best 

 preserved assemblage of these forms in any American institution. 



A series of unusual forms of stalactites and stalagmites from 

 Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, presented by the National Geo- 

 graphic Society, permitted the installation of an important addition 

 to the exhibits showing cave phenomena. 



In the field of applied geology the most important material re- 

 ceived was that obtained by Assistant Curator Foshag while work- 

 ing with a United States Geological Survey field party in New Mex- 

 ico. Doctor Foshag also collected much mineralogical material 

 needed for the study collections. A few striking exhibition speci- 

 mens of ores were obtained from various sources. 



Col. W. A. Roebling was the chief contributor to the mineral col- 

 lections, 6 accessions comprising 51 specimens being credited to him 

 during the year. The most notable of these is a group of axinite 

 crystals thought to be the largest of this mineral yet found. 



A crystal of the new mineral, afwillite, donated by Mr. Alpheus 

 F. Williams, is of particular interest in being one of the type lot 

 which consists of less than a pound of the material. Notable speci- 

 mens for exhibition were furnished through Mr. F. L. Hess, of which 

 a group of large wulfenite crystals from Mexico, and a mass of 

 pink muiscovite and amblygonite from New Mexico are prominent 



