16 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1954 



cotypes, made by her husband, the late Dr. Carlos de la Torre. Other 

 important gifts included 170 specimens from Portuguese East Africa, 

 received from Frederico Marques Borges ; about 6,000 land and fresh- 

 water mollusks of Texas from C D. Orchard, and 111 Mexican land 

 mollusks including 69 paratypes of eight new species described by 

 H. A. Pilsbry, from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 



Botany. — Under a grant from the National Science Foundation, 

 Dr. A. C. Smith obtained 24,161 botanical specimens in the Fiji Is- 

 lands. Dr. Ernest R. Sohns collected 1,143 plants in Tlaxcala and 

 Michoacan, Mexico. About 2,780 specimens were collected in Brazil 

 by Dr. Lyman B. Smith in connection with his studies of bromeliads 

 in relation to malaria under the auspices of the Rockefeller Founda- 

 tion, the Servigo Nacional de Malaria, and other Brazilian institu- 

 tions. Dr. E. H. Walker collected 126 plants from the Ryukyu Is- 

 lands. E. P. Killip collected 1,400 specimens from the Isle of Pines, 

 Cuba, and 1,090 from Big Pine Key, Fla. 



By transfer from the herbarium of the National Arboretum, TJ. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, an interesting lot of 65,327 miscellaneous 

 plants was received. An important collection of 893 plants of Iran, 

 collected by K. H. Rechinger, and 187 ferns of Malaya were pur- 

 chased by the herbarium. 



Gifts included 1,056 plants of Tonga from Dr. T. H. Yuncker of 

 De Pauw University; 433 plants of Mexico from Prof. Eizi Matuda, 

 Mexico, D. F.; and 1,048 Virginia and West Virginia plants from 

 H. A. Allard. 



Among the numerous collections received in exchange were 2,505 

 plants from the Universitets Botaniske Museum, Copenhagen; 870 

 plants of Haiti from the Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm; 

 688 plants of the Dominican Republic from the Arnold Arboretum ; 

 543 plants of Mexico from the University of Michigan ; 391 plants of 

 Australia from Cornell University ; and 350 plants of Russia from the 

 V. L. Komarov Botanical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the 

 U. S. S. R., Leningrad. 



Geology. — Many fine geological specimens were received as gifts, 

 including the finest known crystal of the rare mineral genthelvite from 

 J. W. Adams; a rich mass of pitchblende from the famous Mi Vida 

 mine, donated by the owner, Charles Steen, and an excellent exhibition 

 specimen of prehnite from a new Virginia locality presented by Mr. 

 and Mrs. John D. Atkins. 



To the Roebling collection were added two unusual groups of large 

 aquamarine crystals, an aquamarine crystal with brilliant natural 

 facets, and a large crystal of pale yellowish-green spodumene, the 

 variety triphane, all from the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil ; a pendant 

 of white opal with rich fire from South Australia, a black opal from 

 New South Wales, a synthetic emerald crystal made in the laboratories 



