REPORT OF ASSISTANT DIRECTOR. 71 



Other coHcctioiis, ospocially of birds, irom YiK'at;iii liavc been I'lir- 

 iiislicd bv Mr. Ciamncr. 



\'aliiabl(' ilhisiiatioiis of the aiiinial and M'^ctabU' Uiii^doiii.s ol' (Jiia- 

 ttMiiala and Sal\ aihn wore sccurod froni the Govcrninont coinmissiouers 

 of those count lies to the foici^iu exhibition lield in IJoston in the autumn 

 of IS.S.i These, with siuiihir eoHections unch'r siniihir auspiees obtained 

 from Veuezuehi and Iba/il, were transferred to the National ]Mnseum 

 early in 1884. 



Costa Bica. — ]\ir. .1. C. Zeledon has transmitted specimens of medici- 

 nal plants, of birds, of vertebrated animals, and of etlmolo<;y. 



Mr. Ik. Iglesias, of (^hiriqui, has contributed antiquities and mixlorn 

 1 lottery. 



SoutJi Americd. — Interesting; collections re])resentin^" the natural ])rod- 

 ucts of the animal and vejjetable kingdoms of Venezuela and Jirazil were 

 secured from the Governments of Venezuela and Brazil. Dr. William 

 II. Jones, U. S. X., has contributed some extremely imi)ortant collec- 

 tions of the antiquities and natural history of the coast of Peru and 

 (.'hili, and to some extent of the Galapagos Islands. 



Mr. Kiefer, of Lima, has also made similar contributions. 



Professor Nation has sent types of rare and undescribed species of 

 birds of Peru. 



Dr. "William Crawford, U. S. N., has contributed some fine shells 

 from tlie west coast of Terra <lel Fuegoand the Straits of Magellan. 



The magnificent collection of recent and fossil shells of Europe, be- 

 longing to Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffries, of London, has been acquired by 

 the National iMuseum and in large part received. This is by far the 

 most valuable private collection of European shells in existence, and 

 es])ecially important in possessing so many types of the (leei)-sea spe- 

 cies dredged in the North Atlantic. 



Among eontributors to the European collections may be m<Mitioned 

 the Koyal College of Surgeons, the Sonth Kensington Museum, the Brit- 

 ish Museum, the Koyal Botanical Gardens at Kew, in England ; the Muse- 

 ums of Berlin and Dres<len, in Germany ; of Copenhagen, in Denmark ; 

 of Bergen, \u Nor\yay, &r. 



Asia. — The collections from Asia have been of unusnal significance 

 and importance. Keferenee has been m;|de. to the accessions from 

 Kamtschatka and the Commander Islands obtained through the eftbrts 

 of Dr. Stejneger. 



^Ir. P. L. Jouy has continued his researches in Japan, and has sup- 

 idied a large number of species of mammals and birds of that region, 

 together with other species of animals. The collection of birds l)eing 

 taken in connection with a series presented by Mr. Thomas BlacUiston, 

 who spent many years in Japan, gives to the National ^luseum one of 

 the most comjilete collections of Jaiianese birds in existence, and one 

 great in value in view of t>heir relationships to the birds of Western 

 North America. 



