REPORT OF ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL MUSEUM. 107 



Three . large walnut cases, containing entomological material, both 

 dry and in alchohol, have been transferred, with the consent of Com- 

 missioner Loring, from the Department of Agriculture. This material 

 represents the accumulation of many years from different government 

 exploring expeditions, though most of it has passed through the hands 

 of specialists and is not in very good condition. 



Specialists in entomology will be encouraged to deposit their types 

 by the promise of painstaking custody, and particular attention will be 

 paid in the future to the development of this department. There have 

 been received during the year fifty-three accession lots, the most inter- 

 esting of which, perhaps, were collections of butterflies from Africa and 

 Brazil, presented by Paymaster Albert W. Bacon, U. S. N., and a series 

 of plaster casts of the dwellings of Texas ants, obtained from the Acad- 

 emy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. 



CONCHOLOGY: WILLIAM H. BALL. 



The department of conchology, under the care of Mr. W. H. Dall, 

 honorary curator, has been in a quiescent state during the year, owing 

 to the fact that the ofBcer in charge has been occupied in other duties. 

 The removal of the invertebrate fossils to the other building will, by 

 affording more room in the conchological laboratory, give better oppor- 

 tunities for work in the future. Eighteen accession lots have been 

 received in the Museum, chief among which are a collection from the 

 Pacific coast by Mr. Henry Hemphill, of San Diego, Cal. ; and a collec- 

 tion from Italy, received from Eev. Eugene Vetromile, of Machias, Me. 

 Extensive additions have been made to this department in the course 

 of the dredging operations of the United States Fish Commission. This 

 material, with that of previous years, is still in the hands of Prof. A. E. 

 Verrill, at New Haven, where it is being worked up under his direc- 

 tion. 



Among other important collections, which will be made available to 

 students as soon as cases can be provided, is that recently deposited 

 by Mr. W. G. Binney, containing the types of his voluminous writings 

 upon the land and fresh- water shells of North America; and the collec- 

 tion of North American Unionidce, labeled for the Museum by Dr. James 

 Lewis, of Mohawk, N. Y. 



MARINE INVERTEBRATES: RICHARD RATHBUN. 



The dei)artment of marine invertebrates, under the direction of Mr. 

 Eichard Eathbnn, has been enriched by thirty-one accession lots. As 

 in the case of the conchological department, the principal additions have 

 been made by the United States Fish Commission, which have not yet 

 been forwarded from New Haven. There has been great activity in this 

 department, as is indicated by the report of its curator. 



Thi ee thousand three hundred and thirty-four entries have been made 



