14 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



The second quarto memoir, published in 1878, is a paper by Mr. 

 William H. Dall, " On the Eemains of later Prehistoric Man, obtained 

 from caves in the Catherina Archipelago, Alaska Territory, and espe- 

 cially from the caves of the Aleutian Islands." In the Secretary's re- 

 port for 1875 (page 48) will be found a brief notice of some interesting 

 mummified human remains from the Aleutian Islands presented by the 

 Alaska Commercial Company. These comiirised a series of nine mum- 

 mies from Kagaymil Island and one from Prince William's Sound. Mr. 

 Ball's memoir on the subject has been printed, containing the result of 

 a careful examination of these remains and the relics found with them, 

 an account of the tradition and history relating to them, and such ex- 

 planations of the manufacture, character, and use of the various asso- 

 ciated articles as the author's observations during eight years in that 

 region enabled him to furnish. Ten heliotype illustrations accompany 

 the memoir, which, though inferior to finely engraved views in an 

 artistic point of view, ofler a style better suited to convey a correct idea 

 of the complicated details represented than any other mode of illustra- 

 tion at present in use. 



Two remaining quarto papers now in press will be published early in. 

 the year 1879. The first of these is the memoir of Dr. S. Habel, describ- 

 ing " The Sculptures of Santa Lucia Cosumalwhuapa, in Guatemala." 

 As this interesting work was quite fully described in the Secretary's last 

 Eeport (for 1877, pages 13 to 16), it is unnecessary here to particularize 

 it further. 



The other paper referred to (constituting the fourth of the above- 

 mentioned series) is "A Classification and Synopsis of the Trochilidse," 

 by Mr. D. G. Elliot. The beautiful and brilliant-colored <' metallic" 

 plumage of the humming-birds in many instances assumes, among 

 individuals of the same species, widely-contrasted hues, rendering 

 the correct identification of the species by the naturalist only possible 

 through a considerable experience or the opportunity of examining a 

 large series of specimens. Within the past ten years a large number of 

 new species have been discovered in this group, supplying important 

 links between previously-known species that could not have been here- 

 tofore harmoniously ranged in the family. The vast collection which 

 has produced the material for this work contains many types and speci- 

 mens of great rarity, obtained from such well-known trochilidists as 

 Bourcier, Gould, Verreaux, &c. Of the 426 species acknowledged in the 

 work as worthy of such rank, 380 are contained in the author's collection, 

 represented by about 1,800 specimens. A novel feature of the work is 

 the engraving that accompanies the diagnosis of each genus, illustrating 

 the characteristics by which any specimen may be readily referred to its 

 proper genus. The characters recognized as most important for deter- 

 mining a system of classification are taken from the male bird alone, it 

 being found impossible to harmonize in so large a grouj) any that should 

 be selected from the two sexes indiscriminately. The present synopsis 



