REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 21 



<ii.M1'.\|;aT1\ K AXATOM V. 



The work of the year has consisted largely in the preparation and 

 arrangement of osteological material by the assistant curator, Mr. F. A. 

 Lucas. The most important accession of the year was the skeleton of 

 a young sperm whale, obtained through the courtesy of the Life-Saving 

 Service from the station at Green Run Inlet. The IT. S. Fish Commis- 

 sion contributed valuable material. The increasing care of the collec- 

 tions has prevented any special researches. The exhibition series is in 

 good condition. During the year .~>74 specimens "were added to the col- 

 lection, and a large number were transferred to the department of 

 vertebrate fossils. 



INVERTEBRATE FOSSILS (PALEOZOIC '). 



Mr. O.D.Walcott, honorary curator, has necessarily devoted the greater 



portion of his time to work connected with the U. S. Geological Survey, 

 with which he is associated. The principal accessions during the year 

 were received from the Geological Survey. The collection of Cambrian 

 and Ordovician fossils was placed upon exhibition. 



In the latter part of 1891 the attention of the curator was called to 

 an un worked collection of Lower Carboniferous crinoidsand associated 

 invertebrates from Crawfordsville, Ind., comprising specimens brought 

 together by Prof. Frank Bradley, and presented by Prof. (). C. Marsh 

 to the Vale University Museum, and others gathered by the Rev. 

 D. "A. Bassett upon his farm at < !rawfordsville, and also the property of 

 the Yale Museum. The National Museum possessed at that time but 

 one or two small specimens from this formation, and plaster casts of 

 several others. The curator urged the extreme desirability of securing 

 a full representation from this classic locality of North American Lower 

 Carboniferous fossils. After some correspondence with Prof. Marsh, 

 with this end in view, Mr. Charles E. Beecher, of the Yale Museum, 

 submitted a proposition, offering to give to the National Museum a 

 large number of the Bassett and Bradley fossils, provided the Museum 

 would be willing to work up the collection and supply the necessary 

 tools. This proposition was accepted, and the task of working up the 

 collection was begun at New Haven, the university kindly furnishing 

 abundant laboratory room and every facility for properly carrying on 

 the work. The material, as it was received at New Haven, weighed 

 two tons, and contained between 3,000 and 4,000 specimens, many of 

 them, however, being duplicates. In addition to the single crinoids 

 and groups of crinoids upon slabs, the collection includes fossil brachio- 

 pods, corals, and other invertebrates. It is estimated that the value of 

 the share which wdl come to the National Museum will exceed double 

 the amount of money expended in working up the collection. The 

 material is very showy and attractive, and will form a valuable addi- 

 tion to the exhibition series. 



