DEPARTMENT OF REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS. l. r >7 



Facilities for studying the collections, so far as they were accessible, 

 have been extended to several gentlemen not connected with the Museum. 

 ])y. O. P. Hay spent more than a month in the department study- 

 ing the reptiles of Indiana. Dr. (I. Baur, of Clark University, Wor 

 cester, Mass., spent considerable time at the Museum working up 

 the collection of chelonians for his proposed work on the tortoises of 

 North America, to be published by The Museum. 



The work on the proposed supplementary volume of the " Noinenclator 

 Zoologicus" has advanced satisfactorily. The genera and subgenera 

 recorded in the Zoological Records for 1879-1889 have been card-cata- 

 logued during the year, and the work of indexing the additional names 

 contained in the Zoologische Jahresberi elite has been commenced. 



Mr. Frederick C. Test has been employed as an aid to the department 

 during the entire year. ( )ne half of his time has been devoted to work 

 on the Nomcnelator Zoologicus. the other half chiefly to routine work 

 in the department. 



During the year that part of the Museum collection which was 

 brought home by the naturalists of the V. S. Fish Commission steamer 

 Albatross from the Galapagos Islands was recalled from Prof. Cope. 

 A large quantity of material is, however, still in his possession, and an 

 accurate census of the herpetological specimens of the Museum is there- 

 fore as impracticable as it was last year. Like that presented a year 

 ago, the following estimate has been prepared in this way: taking last 

 year's estimate as a basis, those specimens which have been disposed 

 of by exchange, or otherwise, have been deducted, and those which 

 have been catalogued during the fiscal year have been added. Such 

 an estimate shows the status of the collection on June 30, 1892, to be 

 as follows: 



Specimens. 



Reserve series 15. 921 



Duplicate scries 8, 705 



I nassoited and exotics 6, 313 



Total 30. 939 



The last catalogue entry in dune, 1891, was No. 17136 and the last 

 entry in June, 1892, is No. 18191. 



