156 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1892. 



hulk. As soon as jars and alcohol had been provided, the work of as- 

 sorting and labeling was begun, and has continued steadily at such 

 times as could be spared from the daily routine work. The work is 

 slow, involving, as it does, not only the labor of handling, consulting 

 the records, labeling, and card-cataloguing, but also a great deal of 

 identifying. 



Some time has been spent in preparations for a herpetological dis- 

 play at the World's Columbian Exposition. Thanks to Mr. Benedict's 

 experiments, a plastic and pliable substitute for plaster was obtained 

 for making the casts of reptiles and batrachians. 



By far the most valuable and interesting collection, not only of 

 the year, but since the Wheeler .Survey west of the one hundredth 

 meridian in the seventies, and ranking with those of the famous old 

 exploring expeditions in the West, is the material received from Dr. C. 

 HartMerriam, through the United States Department of Agriculture, 

 and collected by him and his parties during the so-called " Death Val- 

 ley Expedition,' 1 1891. It consists of more than 000 specimens (only a 

 small portion, however, having been entered on the register before the 

 end of the year), chiefly from the desert regions of California and 

 Nevada, but many also from Utah, and quite a number from the great 

 interior basin of California. A special report upon this collection has 

 been prepared by the curator. 



In addition to the collections mentioned in last year's report, as made 

 by Mr. P. L. Jouy in southern Arizona, quite a number of specimens 

 were received from him during the present fiscal year. The excellent 

 quality of his collections and of his field observations are quite as 

 marked in the latter as in the former. 



From the same source the Museum procured the only extra-limital 

 collection worth mentioning, viz. a number of reptiles ami batrach- 

 ians collected by Mr. Jouy during his stay in Korea several years ago. 

 Very little is known of the herpetology of that rather inaccessible 

 country, and the collection is therefore one of unusual interest. 



The type specimen of Typhlotriton spelceus, the blind cave salaman- 

 der, presented by Mr. F.A.Sampson, of Sedalia, Mo., has already been 

 mentioned, but 1 may add that we are indebted to Mr. George E. Harris, 

 of Cassville, Mo., for numerous larva- of the same interesting species. 



Many other valuable and interesting species have been received dur- 

 ing the year from various correspondents, which can not be enumerated 

 in detail in the present connection, but among the more prominent con- 

 tributors the following deserve mention: Herbert Brown, Tucson, 

 Ariz.; Prof. I>. W. Evermann, through U. S. Fish Commission; ,1. I). 

 Figgins, Washington, 1). C; Dr. O. P. Hay, Irvington, Ind.; H. W. 

 Henshaw, Washington, D. C; Julius Hurter, St. Louis, Mo.: It. Mor- 

 ton Middleton, South Pittsburg, Tenn.; Charles W. Richmond, Wash- 

 ington, D.O.j N. P. Scudder, Linden, Md.; Edgar Storment, Tempe, 

 Ariz.; Dr. Timothy E. Wilcox, U. S. A., Fort Huachuca, Ariz. 



