56 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1900. 



ASSlSTANt^K AFFOKDED STUDENT8 AND INVESTIGATORS. 



During the year there have been sent out from the Division of 

 Geology some 18 lots of material, comprising 284 specimens for study 

 and by exchange. 



Specimens from the duplicate collection in the Division of Miner- 

 alogy have been furnished Dr. F. W. Clarke for use in his work on 

 the composition of the various silicates, noted in the bibliograph}', 

 and also to other members of the Geological Survej^ as occasion 

 required. Mention should here be made of a lot of carnotite furnished 

 to Dr. Hillebrand for his investigations, the results of which are not 

 yet published. 



The fine specimen of Lepidosteus simplex from the Section of Verte- 

 brate Paleontology was lent to Dr. C. R. Eastman, of Cambridge, 

 Massachusetts, and has been returned. The type specimen of Eqmis 

 excelsus and other bones belonging to this genus have been lent to Mr. 

 J. W. Gidley, of the American Museum of Natural Historj'^ at New 

 York, where thej'^ still remain. 



From the Section of Invertebrate Paleontology collections were lent 

 for purposes of study to Dr. Anton Fritsch, of Prague; Dr. E. Schell- 

 wein, of Konigsberg, and Dr. G. Hambach, of St. Louis, Missouri. 



In accordance with the usual practice, facilities for study have been 

 afforded to students not officially connected with the institution, when 

 such could be done without too much interference with Museum work. 

 Dr. E. C. E. Lord, as in the year previous, has passed some time in the 

 laboratoiy of the department engaged in the study of eruptive rocks 

 from the coast of Maine. Mr. M. W. Twitchell, a graduate student 

 of the Columbian University, has utilized the goniometer and other 

 facilities in the Division of Mineralogy in the work of preparing his 

 thesis for an advanced degree. Dr. O. P. Hay has spent some time 

 in the study of the paleozoic fishes, and Dr. C. R. Eastman has utilized 

 Museum material in the preparation of a paper on the fossil gar. Dr. 

 A. S. Woodward, of the British Museum, made a brief examination 

 ''f the types of various fossil fishes in our collections. Mr. R. B. 

 Rowe, of the Maryland Geological Survey, Prof. John M. Nichols, of 

 Cincinnati, and Mr. E. H. Sellards, of the University of Kansas, have 

 also had access to Museum materials in connection with their own 

 work. 



FUTURE WORK. 



No radical changes in the plans for the work in any of the divisions 

 of the department are contemplated. There remains yet a large amount 

 of work to be done in the exhibition series in vertebrate paleontology 

 and paleobotany, which will doubtless consume the greater portion of 

 the time of thoj^e in charge of these divisions for an indefinite period. 



Prior to the reorganization of the Museum in 1897, the catalogues 



