REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 71 



relieve several of the custodiaus of the necessity of atteudiag to the 

 details of this work. 



The personnel of this department now includes lion. C. D. Walcott 

 as honorary curator, witli Mr. Charles Schuchert as assistant curator. 

 The vertebrate fossils are still under the charge of Prof. O. C. Marsh, 

 although the actual work on these collections has been performed by 

 Mr. F. A. Lucas. The invertebrate fossils are divided among Mr. Schu- 

 chert, Mr. T. W. Stanton, and Dr. W. H. Dall, while the fossil plants 

 remain under the general sui^ervision of Prof. Lester F. Ward, with Mr. 

 F. II. Knowlton and Mr. David White as custodians of the Mesozoic 

 and Paleozoic collections, respectively. 



Dr. Charles A. White, who for many years has personally had the 

 entire charge of the Mesozoic (collection of invertebrate fossils, is now 

 largely relieved of this work by Mr. Stanton. Dr. White has been 

 designated ''Associate in Paleontology." The Museum owes a large 

 debt of gratitude to him for his efficient work on tlie Mesozoic collec- 

 tion of invertebrate fossils, and it is a source of congratulation that 

 the advantages of his advice and honorary connection with the Museum 

 are to be continued. 



The increase in and the scientitic value of the paleontological collec- 

 tions received during the year are regarded as very gratifying, espe- 

 cially in the case of the vertebrate fossils. This collection, under the 

 curatorship of Prof. O. C. Marsh, of Yale College, has been increased 

 by the addition of about 05 specimens. Among the more important of 

 these is a large collection of bones of Zeuglodon gathered in Missis- 

 sippi and Alabama by Mr. Charles Schuchert. Thirty vertebne of 

 Zeuglodon were also obtained, in exchange, from the Agricultural and 

 Mechanical College, Agricultural College, Miss. In addition, j\[r. 

 Schuchert collected a large number of specimens of Middle Devonian 

 corals from Moreland, Ky. A skull of bison from the Kansas gravels 

 was presented by Dr. A. G. Chase, and a skull of rortheus molossus by 

 Mr. E. E. Howell. Casts of a number of fossils have been obtained by 

 exchanges with the Museum of Natural History in Paris, the La Plata 

 Museum, and with Mr. Henry A. Ward, of Rochester, N. Y. A cast of 

 a skeleton of Pelargosaurv.s ti/piis was acquired by an exchange with 

 the University of Caen, France, and an excellent specimen of Ichthi/o- 

 saurus from Lyme Pegis, England, was received in exchange from the 

 Wagner Free Institute, Philadelphia, Pa. 



A small series of fossils has been placed on exhibition, and a num- 

 ber of large casts placed on the walls or on the tops of the wall cases. 

 From the collection of bones of Zeuglodon a restoration, more than 50 

 feet in length, has been made for exhibitiim at the Atlanta Exposition. 

 This will be added to the exhibition series after its return to Washing- 

 ton. The many casts of vertebrates in foreign museums received 

 during the year are of great value lor comparative and decorative pur- 

 poses. Although the exhibit of this section of the paleontological 

 department is but small, it has already attracted much attention, and 



