REPORT OF DEPARTMENT OF MARINE INVERTEBRATES. 191 



boilingc. On this inteiestiujj^ specimen the two colors are equally dis- 

 tributed and meet along the median line of both tlie dorsal and ventral 

 surfaces. In no place does either color encroach upon the other, but 

 their line of demarkation is as distinctly marked as though the speci- 

 men had been colored by hand, although it is undoubtedly a genuine 

 freak of nature. 



Dr. Edward Palmer : Sixty-five cases of Corals. Sponges, Crustaceans, 

 and Echinoderms from Southern Florida and the Dry Tortugas. This 

 is the largest collection, next to that of the Fish Commission, received 

 by this department during the year, and was made in the interest of 

 the New Orleans International Exposition, through the funds appro- 

 priated for that purpose by Congress. In detailing Dr. Palmer for this 

 undertaking, it was with the intention of bringing together as exhaust- 

 ive a collection as possible of the more important and conspicuous ani- 

 mal products of the coral-reef region of Southern Florida, which, con- 

 sidering its many interesting economic and biological features, has 

 never been properly represented hitherto, either in the National Museum 

 collections or in connection with any of our great expositions. The re- 

 sults obtained by Dr. Palmer were eminently satisfactory, although it 

 is impossible at so early a date to make anything like a complete rejiort 

 upon his collection. Its value is greatly enhanced by the very full 

 notes which accompany it. It has been entirely unpacked, and all of 

 the specimens have been separately labeled, to insure their future iden- 

 tity beyond a possibility of error or confusion. The dried specimens of 

 small to medium size have been stored in unit trays (of w^hich they till 

 about 100), temporarily arranged in the west hall of the Smithsoniiin 

 Institution. The larger corals have been retained in their original 

 cases, from which the packing materials have been removed. The Ac- 

 tinian or stony corals comprise the bulk of the collection, although there 

 is a large representation of Gorgonian corals, and the number of finely 

 j>repared sponges is very great. The Crustaceans and Echinoderms, of 

 which there are many specimens and species, are mainly preservcMl in 

 alcohol. 



Henry Hemphill : A very extensive collection of alcoholic and dried 

 specimens of marine invertebrates from the west coast of Florida, be 

 tween Cedar Keys and Charlotte Harbor, obtained from the shore and 

 from shallow water by dredging. This collection was made with great 

 care during the winter and early spring, and consists largely of the 

 smaller forms of animal life, such as collectors seldom look for. The 

 groups mainly represented are the Crustaceans, Annelids, Echinoderms, 

 Alcyonian and Actinian corals, and sponges. Although coming from a 

 region closely bordering that visited by Dr. Palmer, this collection does 

 not in any way duplicate his, being of an entirely difterent character. 



The additions made to the Museum collections from the Antillean re- 

 gion during 1884, by the steamer Albatross, Dr. Palmer, and Mr. Hemp- 



