INTRODUCTION. 



The zoological literature of this country is found in the 

 various publications of the Smithsonian Institution, in volumi- 

 nous reports of government commissions, in the memoirs and 

 proceedings of societies and academies, in the bulletins and 

 memoirs of a few universities, and in numerous periodicals 

 devoted to the natural sciences. 



With such varied ways and means of publication what more 

 can be required? The answer must be brief: diversity in these 

 respects is not an evidence of efficiency, but of weakness. 

 Concentration is our need. How shall we effect it? Can any 

 one or more of our present media of publication be converted 

 into a strong central organ, devoted exclusively to the presen- 

 tation of original research in animal morphology? Unfortu- 

 nately no one of them appears to be capable of undergoing such 

 a radical metamorphosis. Every attempt in this direction has 

 failed, and for reasons too obvious to require notice here; and 

 every combination scheme has found an effectual barrier in the 

 rivalries of different institutions. 



Our scientific publications are miscellanies, and such they 

 are destined to remain. No one of them can make any preten- 

 sion to fulfilling the functions of a morphological journal. 

 Nowhere in this entire country is there a single efficient 

 serial publication offering to extend its privileges to zoolo- 

 gists in general, without regard to local restrictions. The 

 result is that valuable papers have been shelved for years ; 

 some have been published with illustrations of an inferior 

 quality ; and not a few have been brought to the light through 

 the aid of foreign journals. 



Much, then, as we owe to our scientific societies for what they 

 have done and are still doing for the biological sciences, and 

 earnestly as we may desire to sustain and strengthen their 

 resources, we recognize needs which such organizations have 

 never undertaken to supply. 



