52 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1895. 



paper ou the occurreuce of armadillos of the ^enim Xenio-us in Central 

 America. He has nearly completed a comprehensive paper ou the 

 "Antlers of the Deer Family." This will be published as one of the 

 accompanying- i)apers in the next Keport. Work has also been con- 

 tinued on a monograph of the Americau moles, in connection with which 

 the preparation of a series of osteolbgical drawings was found neces- 

 sary. Mr. True has published four papers during the year — two in 

 " Science''' and two in the " Proceedings of the National Museum." The 

 titles are given in the Bibliography (Appendix iv). A new species was 

 described in the paper on the "Eodents of the genus 8minthus in 

 Kashmir," under the name of ^Sm^nfhns fants. 



In May, 1895, Mr. True was temporarily attached to the staff of the 

 U. S. Fish Commission, at the request of the Acting Commissioner, for 

 the purpose of making a special study of the seal rookeries. 



Owing to the limited appropriations made by Congress for the main- 

 tenance of the Museum, very little can be done in the way of explorations 

 under the direct auspices of the Museum. Assistance was rendered to 

 Dr. Mearns in his work connected with the survey of the Mexican 

 Boundary, by supplying him with collecting material. An expedition 

 to Lake Okeechobee, Florida, by Mr. Kidgway and Mr. William Palmer, 

 resulted in obtaining a small number of mammals, chietly forms not 

 well represented in the collections. It is most fortunate for the Museum 

 that the friendly and valuable assistance of Dr. W. L. Abbott, which 

 has been so often manifested in his generous gifts, has been con- 

 tinued this year. As already stated, a very important accession has 

 recently been received from him as the result of his explorations in 

 Turkestan and Kashmir. The expedition of Mr. William Astor Chanler 

 and Lieutenant von Hohnel in the Tana Kiver region. East Africa, has 

 yielded an important contribution to the Museum collection of mam- 

 mals. Reference should also be made to the collections of Mr. J. D. 

 Figgins in Maryland, and of Mr. J. II. Camp in the Congo region, 

 West Africa. The thanks of the Museum are further due to Mr. 

 Charles H. Townsend, naturalist of the Fish Commission, for his zeal 

 in obtaining specimens for the Museum while engaged in collecting 

 work under the auspices of the United States Fish Commission. 



In accordance with established usage, the Museum has lent its mate- 

 rial freely to scientific investigators for study. In this connection may 

 be mentioned several transmissions of specimens from this department 

 to Dr. J. A. Allen and Mr. F. M. Chapman, of the American Museum 

 of Natural History, New York; Dr. Harrison Allen, of Philadelphia; 

 Dr. Edgar A. Mearns, for use in his studies of the Mexican Boundary 

 collection; Mr. S. N. Ehoads, of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural 

 Scieiu'cs, and Mr. G. S. Miller, jr., of the Department of Agriculture. 

 Opportunity to study the collection of mammals in the Museum build- 

 ing has also been extended to Dr. ]\[earns and to the members of the 

 staff in the division of economic ornithology and mammalogy in the 

 Department of Agriculture. 



