REPORT OF ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL MUSEUM. 105 



Many of the turtles have been sent to the carp ponds of the Fish 

 Commission, -where a large proportion of all species of American tes- 

 tudinates may now be seen living. The reserve collection of turtles, 

 according to Messrs. F. W. True and N. P. Scudder, who have had it 

 in charge, now includes 5G8 specimens, of which 400 are in alcohol, 38 

 are casts, and 40 are skeletons. 



FISHES: TARLETON H. BEAN. 



In the department of ichthyology, under the direction of Dr. T. H. 

 Bean, there has been much activity, but, owing to the immense bulk of 

 the collections, the limited storage-space, and the entire absence of ac- 

 commodation for the exhibition of the reserve series, the work has 

 been mnch retarded. The fitting up of the west range of the Smith- 

 sonian building for the reception of alcoholic vertebrates — a work now 

 nearly comxileted — will enable the curator of this department to revolu- 

 tionize its arrangement during the coming year. It is impossible at 

 present to make any estimate whatever of the extent of these collec- 

 tions. There have been during the year 125 accession lots and 2,639 

 entries on the catalogues. The most important additions to the collec- 

 tions resulted from the labor of the United States Fish Commission, 

 whose recent explorations in the deeper waters along the coast have 

 resulted in the discovery of numerous important forms of deep-sea fish. 

 The collections made by Prof. D. S. Jordan on the coast of CaUforuia, 

 and by Dr. T. H. Bean in Alaska, are also very extensive and full of in- 

 terest. The former were overhauled by Prof. D. S. Jordan and his 

 assistant, Mr. Charles L. McKay, during a visit to the Museum in Feb- 

 ruary; and, after the reserve series had been taken out, 70 sets of du- 

 plicates, containing in all about 15,000 specimens, were made up. These 

 have since been distributed to the principal museums of the world, 

 giving to the National Museum large credits upon which to draw in 

 future for duplicate natural-history material in the possession of those 

 establishments. 



Important collections were also received from Mr. C. H. Gilbert, who 

 during the winter of 1881 made extensive explorations on the Pacific 

 coast of Central America and the Isthmus of Panama. 



Important lots have also been received from Mr. James G. Swan, 

 collected by him in the vicinity of Puget Sound ; from Lieut. H. E. 

 Nichols, in Alaska ; from Mr. C. C. Leslie, in Charleston, S. C. ; from 

 Capt. Charles Bendire, U. S. A., in Washington Territory ; from Josiah 

 Skinner, in the vicinity of Wetumpka, Ala ; from Vinal N. Edwards, 

 Wood's noil, Mass. ; from Col. Marshall McDonald, in the Chesapeake 

 Bay; from Mr. E. G. Blackford, of Fulton Market, New York City; 

 from Prof. S. A. Forbes, in the waters of Illinois; from Miss Eosa Smith, 

 in San Diego, Cal. ; from Andrea Larco, of Santa Barbara ; from Dr. J. W. 

 Velie, of the Chicago Academy of Sciences; from S. T. Walker and Silas 

 Stearns, in Florida ; from Livingston Stone, in California ; from Walter 



