42 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1900. 



]\Ir. Pollard continued his investigations of the North American 

 violets to which reference was made last year. In this work Professor 

 Greene, of the Catholic University of America, lias largely cooperated. 

 One set of duplicate specimens was distributed last year, as mentioned 

 in my previous report. 



The head curator continued his investigations of the \\'halebone 

 whales of the North Atlantic, in connection with which he located and 

 as far as possible examined and i)hotographed the types of the various 

 species hitherto descri))ed. 



USE OF THE COLLECTIONS. 



The staff of the Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture 

 has, as in past years, made extensive use of the zoological collections, 

 especially those of mammals and birds. Mr. Outram Bangs, of Boston, 

 Mass., made comparisons of birds recentl}- collected for him in Panama 

 and Colombia with those from this region in the Museum. The col- 

 lections of Alaskan ])irds were examined by Dr. Louis B. Bishop, of 

 New Haven, Conn., in connection with his determinations of birds 

 collected by him in the Yukon region. Dr. A. W. Grabau, who is 

 making a special stud}" of the moUusks of the family Fusidaj, spent 

 some time in examining the Museum collections. Numerous persons 

 brought shells to the Museum to be compared and named. 



Man}' workers have been engaged upon the collections of the Divi- 

 sion of Marine Invertebrates during the year. Miss H. Richardson 

 continued work on the Isopods, Mr. T. Wayland Vaughan on West 

 Indian corals, and Mr. W. P. Hay on crayfishes. The Museum has 

 had the benefit of the services of these experts on several occasions. 

 Dr. Albert Mann spent several weeks in examining the deep-sea 

 deposits for diatoms. Several months were spent by Mrs. F. B. 

 Arnold in general studies of invertebrates in connection with a popular 

 work on marine life which she is about to publish. 



The collection of fishes have been made use of, as in preceding years, 

 by various officers of the United States Fish Commission, particularly 

 by Doctors Evermann, Kendall, and Smith, and Mr. M. C. Marsh. 



The herbarium was extensively consulted during the year, both by 

 the members of the scientific staff* of the Department of Agriculture 

 engaged in botanical work, and other botanists. 



LOAN OF SPECIMENS. 



As in previous years, the use of the collections for scientific purposes 

 is not confined to examination of material in the Museum laboratories. 

 Large immbers of specimens are sent out for study every year to 

 naturalists throughout the United States and in other countries. 



