6 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



Pittsburgh and finds much to deeply interest him. The work hitherto 

 done in this region proves itself to have been very superficial, and Dr. 

 Raymond may be expected to show that some of the accepted views in 

 relation to the geology of the region are not wholly correct. 



The Director of the Museum discovers with the lapse of time that 

 the cares of his office do not tend to diminish, but rather to increase. 

 The belief appears to be general, especially in the rural districts, that 

 in order to obtain information on almost any conceivable subject all 

 that is necessary is to write a letter to the Director of the Carnegie 

 Museum. The correspondence of the office, while indicating great 

 faith in the ability of the gentlemen connected with the Institute to 

 answer every imaginable inquiry, nevertheless at times assumes a 

 bewildering character. The experience of one day is typical of almost 

 every day. On August 25, for example, the Director received a com- 

 munication, and a box containing a specimen, asking him to decide 

 whether the animal, the remains of which were contained in the 

 box, had died of hydrophobia or not ; he was asked to determine 

 the age of a worn coin the inscription upon which had become abso- 

 lutely illegible ; was requested to write an account of the life-history 

 and habits of an obscure caterpillar, a specimen of which was forwarded 

 to him ; and to quote prices current upon Indian arrow-heads. The 

 position of Director of a Museum calls for as much versatility as is 

 possessed by the editor of a country newspaper. 



The Editor takes great pleasure in publishing in this number of the 

 Annals a List of the Lepidoptera of Western Pennsylvania, which has 

 been prepared by Mr. Engel. This is one of a series of such lists, 

 which have from time to time appeared, and which serve a useful pur- 

 pose in enabling the student to know what are the species which occur 

 in the neighborhood. The lists which have been published in the past 

 relating to the region are the following : 



A List of the Coleoptera of Southwestern Pennsylvania, by Dr. John 

 Hamilton. Supplemented by a list prepared by Mr. Henry G. 

 Klages. 



A List of the Hemiptera of Western Pennsylvania, by P. Modestus 

 Wirtner. 



A List of the Reptiles of Allegheny County, prepared by Dr. D. A. 

 Atkinson. 



