158 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1893. 



made under goveininental auspices by various orj^anizatious, such as 

 the U. S. Fish Coniinission, the U. S. Navy, the Revenue Marine, the 

 Department of Aj^riculture, and special expeditions. xVmong them are 

 two which bear particnhirly on the Tertiary geology and paleontology 

 of the southeastern border of the United States. One of these (Bulle- 

 tin 84 of the U. tS, Geological Survey, by William H. Dall and Gilbert 

 D. Harris) summarizes our knowledge of the post-eocene Tertiary 

 geology of the United States, including Alaska, up to about 18!K), the 

 manuscript having been delayed in ijrinting nearly two years. The 

 other is the second part of a report by the writer on the Tertiary fauna 

 of Florida, including the gastropods and containing nuich new mate- 

 rial. A third part, to comprise the Pelecypods and a geological sum- 

 mary, will conclude the work. In addition may be mentioned certain 

 reports on fauna! collections of the Southern States and a small collec- 

 tion from eastern Siberia, and further researches by Mr. Simpson on 

 the Unioni(l(v. 



Mr. Dall speaks as follows of the state of the collection : 

 In pre lous reports I have explained why it is not possible to give the exact num- 

 ber of species, specimens, duplicates, etc., contained in the collection. In my last 

 report it was estimated that the collection contained about 482,725 specimens, of 

 which about 100,000 are preserved in alcohol. During tlie year about 5,600 specie 

 mens were received, which would malve a present total of 188,325 specimens now 

 contained in the collection. The number of entries in the register for 1892-'93 is 

 4,578, as shown in the appended table, representing some 13,734 specimens. 



XXIII . 

 XXIV. 

 XXVI . 

 XXVII 



Total 



Volume. 



From- 



106, 904 

 112, 401 

 124,683 

 125,426 



To— 



106, 981 

 115, 307 



125, 425 



126. 259 



Total. 



77 



2,906 



762 



833 



4,578 



Kemarks 



Volume in use. 

 Keserved for fossils. 

 Volume filled. 

 Volume in u.se. 



The total number of registrations to date, diulucting all duplications and omis- 

 sions in the register, is 107,591, representing about 322,800 specimens catalogued to 

 date. The unmber of workers and their distribution in the building render it nec- 

 essary to use siuniltaneously several volumes of the register, which explains why 

 the foregoing table is necessary to show the total registrations for the year. The 

 formal registration, with the gaps alluded to, terminates .luue 30, 1893, with the 

 number 126,2.59. 



The work of assisting students in various parts of the country to 

 identify their local fauna, to intelligently direct their studies, and to 

 answer their numerous (pieries on different branches of the subject has 

 always been regarded as an important function of this department, and 

 has been made a special care by Mr. Dall, who states that correspond- 

 ence of this kind was conducted in 1891-'92 with 166 different persons, 

 involving over 300 letters and 600 to 700 pages of writing, besides the 

 identiticatiou of many liundred s])('('iinens, while in 1892-''03, 90 ditlVreiit 

 persons received 330 communications, involving some 800 pages of writ- 



