58 REPOKT OF THE SECRETARY. 



Dr. E. A. Mearns were also important, being largely from type localities 

 along the Kissimee River and elsewhere in Florida, and comprised 600 

 birds and 300 mammals, besides birds' eggs and reptiles, and also a fine 

 series of the skulls and skeletons of the soft-shelled turtle, Pktt)/pelfis spinifer. 

 He also (contributed a series of the mammals occurring in Rhode Island. 



Six important lots of marine invertebrates were transferred to the Museum 

 by the United States Fish Commission, namely: the Ophiurans of the 

 Agassiz- Albatross cruise of 1891 to the Galapagos Islands and the west 

 coast of Central America; the Japanese crustaceans collected by the Alba- 

 tross in 1900; the corals obtained during the South Sea Expedition of the 

 same vessel in 1899-1900; a collection of crayfishes from West Virginia; 

 the crustaceans and echinoderms obtained by the Princeton University 

 Arctic Expedition of 1899, and the corals gathered in Porto Rican waters 

 by the steamer Fish Hawk in 1899. The Fish Commission has also depos- 

 ited in the Museum the types of tlie new species of fishes collected on this 

 latter expedition. 



A valuable series of types of Hawaiian fishes collected by Dr. O. P. Jen- 

 kins, of the Leland Stanford Junior University, and ]VIr. T. I. Wood, has 

 been contributed by the former, while the university presented an inter- 

 esting collection of Japanese fishes. 



Oriental shells, representing about 500 species and regarded as the most 

 interesting addition to the Division of Mollusks, were received from Dr. 

 W. Eastlake, of Tokyo, Japan. A collection of the shells of Haiti and 

 Jamaica, embracing over 200 species, was gathered by Mr. J. B. Hender- 

 son, jr., of Washington, District of Columbia, and Mr. Charles T. Simpson, 

 of the National Museum, Mr. Henderson generously paying the expenses 

 of the trip. Some Naiades from Central and South America were received 

 from Dr. H. von Ihering, of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and are of special value as 

 supplying many deficiencies in the Museum collections. 



The Museum has been fortunate in acquiring the private collection of 

 Mr. Robert Ridgway, curator of the Division of Birds, representing about 

 1,100 species of North and Central American birds, many of them in the 

 first plumages, and all in an exceedingly fine state of preservation. A rep- 

 resentative series of 56 Ijirds from Singapore has been <lonated by Mr. 

 C. B. Kloss, and an excellent collection of the nest and eggs of Philippine 

 birds, accompanied in many instances by specimens of the birds them- 

 selves, has been presented by Capt. H. C. Benson, U. S. A. Four Birds 

 of Paradise, including the rare Pteridophora alherti, a species with extraor- 

 dinary plumes, were also secured. Dr. W. L. Ralph has added to his 

 many acts of generosity by donating rare birds' eggs, including specimens 

 of the eggs of the Everglade Kite and Henslow's Sparrow. 



The Division of Insects received several important accessions, the most 

 noteworthy of which includes more than 15,000 specimens of European 

 lepidoptera, a collection which was once the property of the late Dr. O. 

 Hofmann. 



The National Herbarium has been enriched by the acquisition of the 

 collection of lichens belonging to the late Henry H. Willey, of New Bed- 

 ford, Massachusetts, a well-known specialist in this group of plants; also 

 of coilections of 917 plants from Georgia, 617 from Missouri, 500 from 



