64 



TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OP 



Tahle exh'hiting the number of jars, with specimens in alcohol, in the 

 Smithsonian Institution December 31, 1855, compared with December 

 31, 1851. 



In the above enumeration it should be borne in mind that many of 

 the jars of invertebrata and of fishes contain a considerable number of 

 species each, while there are at least thirty barrels, kegs, or large 

 cans filled with specimens, which it has not yet been convenient to 

 separate and assort. 



An equally gratifying increase is shown in the skins and skeletons, 

 of which a table similar to the preceding is herewith presented : 



Prepared mammals 



Birds 



Skulls and skeletons generally 



1851. 



none 



3,700 



912 



1854. 



351 

 4,354 

 1,276 



1855. 



1,200 

 4,425 

 2,050 



An addition, however, of at least 1,500 specimens of North American 

 birds is to be made to this list of specimens in hand, but not yet 

 regularly entered. 



Catalogue lists of shells, insects, minerals, fossils, plants, &c., have 

 not yet been prepared, although the increase here has likewise been 

 very great. 



D — Principal Desiderata of the Museum. 



Although the collections received by the Institution have been so 

 large and valuable, there are still some special desiderata, which it 

 may be well to mention here, in hopes of having them supplied. 

 Among the mammals east of the Mississippi most wanted are the two 

 species of swamp rabbit ; the one {Lepus aquaticiis) found in Mis- 

 sissippi, Louisiana, and Alabama, considerably larger than the com- 

 mon gray rabbit, {L. sylvaticus ;) the other from the Atlantic south- 

 ern States, near the seaboard, {L. palustris,) smaller than that last 

 mentioned. Next to these come the squirrels, especially the rusty- 

 bellied varieties, from the southern and western States. The various 



