88 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS. 



This department of the administrative work is under the charge of 

 Mr. E. I. Geare. executive clerk. 



The office force includes a stenographer, a typewriter, an indexer, a 

 record clerk, and a messenger. 



There has been prepared for the signature of the Secretary of the 

 Smithsonian Institution and of the Assistant Secretary in charge of the 

 Museum, 5,349 official papers, including 2,323 letters on miscellaneous 

 Museum matters: 263 reports on material transmitted for examination ; 

 1,138 acknowledgments of specimens given or lent to the Museum ; 374 

 letters transmitting specimens to museums, colleges, schools, and indi- 

 vidual investigators. In addition, nearly a thousand letters in regard 

 to Museum publications have been written. 



A special feature of the Museum correspondeuce is in connection with 

 requests for technical information upon various subjects. The letters 

 prepared in reply usually embody data supplied by the curators to whom 

 the letters have been referred. 



For the benefit of persons interested in the details of the adminis- 

 trative work of the Museum, as well as for the purpose of placing them 

 on record for reference in future years, the following statement of the 

 contents of letters asking for information, received during the year, has 

 been prepared by Mr. Geare. It is needless to say that the publication 

 of the details of office business in such minuteness will not form a reg- 

 ular feature of the Museum report. 



STATEMENT OF LETTERS ASKING FOR INFORMATION. 



Abbott, Dr. C. C. (Trenton, New Jersey), Laving found the young of the genus Tylo- 

 eurua iu the Delaware River, desires to know if their occurrence in those waters 

 is common. 



Adair, J. M. (Glen Ella, Louisiana), sends description of a coin and desires informa- 

 tion concerning it, also an opinion as to its value. 



Alger, Mrs. C.J. (Burlington, Vermont), desires information regarding the occur- 

 rence of rust on small fruits. 



Allen, J. C. (White Gate, Virginia), sends description of a fossil for determination of 

 the species. 



Allen, Richard (Hartford City, Virginia), desires information concerning the bibli- 

 ography of the Stone Age in New Jersey. 



American Carbonate Company (New York City), makes inquiry regarding the oc- 

 currence of magnesite in large masses. 



Anderson, Dr. John J. (Brooklyn, New York), desires to be informed where photo- 

 graphs of certain ruins in Arizona may be obtained; also as to the origin of the 

 name " Montana" as applied to the Territory. 



Arnette, A. R. (Gaylord, Virginia), makes inquiry iu reference to the bibliography of 

 Herpetology. 



Austin, W. W. (Palmyra, New York), desires information regarding the publications 

 of the International Congress of Anthropology, held in June, 1388. 



Baldwin, Miss Annie F. (Cincinnati, Ohio), desires to be informed as to the com- 

 mercial value of certain minerals, and where they may be obtained. 



