40 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



Dei^artment; a collection of Morse telegraph keys, insulators, and other electrical 

 ajiparatus, presented by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company; a collection illustrat- 

 ing the development of the hand camera, by the Eastman Kodak Company; a 

 collection of sporting rifles of the kind used in this country prior to 1850, lent 1)y 

 Mr. Herman Hollerith, and a rare form of flintlock pistol with folding bayonet, 

 presented by Mr. Paul Beckwith. 



The accessions to the Departme: t of Biology embraced 151,000 specimens, or nearly 

 41,000 more than the previous year. The collection of insects was increased by 

 about 59,000 specimens, the herbarium by about 43,000, while the remaining 49,000 

 specimens were divided among the other divisions. 



The most extensive of the zoological collections, in point of number of specimens, 

 consisted of about 40,000 insects ol)tained in British Columbia by Dr. Harrison G. 

 Dyar, assisted by Mr. Rolla P. Currie and Mr. A. N. Caudell. The Bureau of Fish- 

 eries transmitted large collections of land and fresh-water shells, reptiles, and crus- 

 taceans from Indiana and other States; a valuable series of marine mollusks, chiefly 

 from Alaska; the types of recently described fishes from Japan, the Hawaiian 

 Islands, etc. ; fishes, crustaceans, and corals secured in connection with the Alaskan 

 salmon-fisheries investigation of 1903, and 461 plants from Alaska and Oregon. 



Especially worthy of mention are the important zoological contributions from the 

 Mentawei Archipelago, Sumatra, and various islands off the eastern coast of Sumatra, 

 obtained and presented by Dr. William L. Abbott. Thirty-one new forms of mam- 

 mals and several new species of birds are represented in the collection from the 

 archipelago, while those from eastern Sumatra also contain very valuable material, 

 including numerous forms of birds and reptiles not previously received. Several 

 valuable lots of zoological specimens from Minnesota and the Philippine Islands 

 were donated by Dr. E. A. Mearns, U. S. Army. A large number of mammals, 

 birds, reptiles, and fishes from the Bahama Islands were secured as the result of the 

 expedition sent to those islands by the Baltimore Geographical Society, and of 

 which Mr. B. A. Bean and Mr. J. H. Riley, of the Museum staff, were members. 

 A valuable collection of birds' eggs and reptiles from Texas was transmitted l)y the 

 Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture. 



Noteworthy among the mammals received w^ere a specimen of a remarkable species 

 of bat, Eudei-ma mamlalum, presented by Mr. E. O. Wooton, of Mesilla Park, N. Mex. ; 

 the first authentic specimen of a jaguar from the United States; a rare mouse-deer, 

 Traguhis stanleyanv.s, obtained from M. Emile Deschamps; a collection of Old World 

 mammals, obtained from W. Schliiter; a collection of Japanese mammals from 

 Mr. T. Tsuchida; some rare forms of bats from the British Museum, and a collection 

 of Colombian mammals from the American Museum of Natural History. 



An interesting series of birds of the Philippine Islands was secured by exchange 

 with the Museum in Manila. Mr. Homer Davenport, of East Orange, N. J., pre- 

 sented a number of young pheasants, and Mr. N. C. Brown, of Portland, Me., a well- 

 prepared series of the birds of North Carolina. Four species of birds of paradise, 

 new to the collection, were purchased. Dr. W. L. Ralph, of the Museum staff, and 

 Gen. J. W. Barlow made generous contributions to the collection of birds' eggs, and 

 series of rare Mexican eggs and of the eggs of the Hoactzin were purchased. 



A collection of Japanese reptiles was presented by Dr. Hugh M. Smith, and some 

 rare reptiles of southern Florida by Mr. E. J. Brown, of Lemon City, Fla. The 

 Division of Fishes has received a large number of Japanese species from the Leland 

 Stanford Junior University, and a well-prepared series of specimens from Paget 

 Sound, donated by Dr. J. C. Thompson, U. S. Navy. A specimen of the Japanese 

 shark, Mllsnkuria owstoni, was purchased. 



Hawaiian land shells and other invertebrates were received from Mr. H. W. Hen- 

 shaw, of Hilo, Hawaii; Dr. R. E. C. Stearns, honorary associate in zoology, now 

 residing in Los Angeles, Cal., presented an extensive series of west American shells. 



