174 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1893. 



ing to the Survey were used for tbis j)uri)()se, and a number came from 

 tbe collections of the Museum. All of the material has now, however, 

 been transferred to the custody of the latter, and is now on exhibi- 

 tion in the Department of Geology. 



The principal feature of the exhibit was the collection of characteris- 

 tic fossils and rocks arranged stratigraphically. This contained about 

 1,850 species (probably G,000 specimens) of fossils, and 543 rocks. There 

 were also exhibited a restored skeleton of Dinoceras mirahile, 4 large 

 slabs with Liiigula, Protichnites, ClimachHcJmites, and Dactyloidifes, 2 

 large casts of Orthoceras, 1 large specimen of Bacidites grandis, 1 large 

 special case containing showy specimens of Criuoids, Trilobites, Euryp- 

 terus, Ammonites, Corals, etc., and 2 special cases of showy fossil 

 plants, principally Carboniferous, with a few from the Cretaceous and 

 Tertiary. 



DEPARTMENT OF MESOZOIC FOSSILS. 



Comparatively little work has been done in this department during 

 the past year. Owing to the fact that its personnel is only nominally 

 or incidentally connected with the Museum, it has been impracticable 

 to devote much more time to it than the most imperative of the routine 

 forms required. This work has been mainly confined to the examina- 

 tion of and report upon accessions, and to the transference of certain 

 collections to the Museum from the U. S. Geological Survey. 



The most important accessions to the Museum through this depart- 

 ment are those received from the Survey. Among these are the type 

 specimens of fossils which have formed the basis of Bulletin No. 100 of 

 the Geological Survey, of which Mr. T. W. Stanton is the author. This 

 collection embraces 179 type specimens, all of which are figured in that 

 bulletin. 



During the past year the entries in the record book of this depart- 

 ment have ranged from 22,170 to 22,959. There have been catalogued 

 6,440 specimens of fossils, 5,392 of which came from the U. S. Geological 

 Survey, and 1,048 from all other sources. 



Dr. C. A. White, the honorary curator, has during the past year been 

 engaged in the preparation of a work upon the Bear River formation 

 of Wyoming and Idaho, which is largely of a paleontological character. 

 This work is not yet published, and no work based upon the collections 

 of this department has been published during the year. 



DEPARTMENT OF RECENT PLANTS. 



Dr. George Vasey, honorary curator and botanist of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, died March 4, 1893, after a long and faithful 

 service in connection with the National Herbarium and with the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture.* Mr. Frederick V. Coville, his successor, 



* Notices of hie hie and scientific worli have been published in the Bulletin of the 

 Torrey Botanical Club, vol. 20, 1893, pp. 218 to 220, and in the Botanical Gazette, 

 vol. 18, 1893, pp. 170 to 183. 



