126 ANNUAL BEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTTTUTION, 1917. 



falls in May and June, and for the very wet and cold weather during 

 the summer months. 



Borneo and Celebes expedition. — ^Mention has been made on sev- 

 eral occasions of the generosity of Dr. W. L. Abbott, a collaborator 

 of the National Museum, whose gifts of ethnological and zoological 

 specimens to the museum have been both extensive and valuable. In 

 1912 Doctor Abbott contributed a sum of money to defray the ex- 

 penses of an expedition to Borneo, and annually since then he has 

 added materially to his contributions. Since the last meeting he has 

 given $4,000 for the continuation of these explorations, which are 

 being conducted by Mr. H. C. Raven. The last expedition, which 

 started October 19, 1915, includes the Dutch East Indies, and particu- 

 larly Celebes, from which one shipment has already been received, 

 while a second is on the way. Doctor Abbott's contributions to these 

 expeditions now totals around $17,000. Formal acknowledgment of 

 these generous gifts has been made. 



Doctor Ahhotfs Santo Domingo expedition. — Doctor Abbott has 

 but recently returned from a collecting trip through the island of 

 Santo Domingo, West Indies, and has given further evidence of his 

 interest in the National Museum by presenting to it the results of his 

 labors there, viz, 230 anthropological si)ecimens, 70 birds, 60 mam- 

 mals, 20 reptiles, 100 insects, and a collection of mollusks. Doctor 

 Abbott is now preparing for a trip to Haiti. 



North China ex/pedition. — Mr. A. de C. Sowerby is still conducting 

 biological exploration work in Manchuria and northeastern China. 

 This expedition has been financed by a generous friend of the In- 

 stitution who will not permit his name to be known. No detailed 

 report of the work is possible, though it is progressing in a satis- 

 factory manner. 



The Collins-Garner Congo expedition. — An expedition to the 

 French Congo and neighboring parts of Africa has been arranged 

 for the purpose of collecting natural history specimens for the Na- 

 tional Museum. The members of the expedition will be Mr. Alfred 

 M. Collins, of Philadelphia ; Mr. Robert L. Garner, Mr. C. W. Fur- 

 long, and Mr. Charles R. W. Aschemeier. Mr. Collins agrees to 

 meet the expenses of the first three gentlemen named, while the Insti- 

 tution will take care of Mr. Aschemeier, who goes as its special rep- 

 resentative. The expedition will leave New York in a few daj^s and 

 is expected to return in about one year. 



Kitchen midden Tnaterial. — Mr. George Heye, of New York, has 

 presented the Institution with a collection of material from kitchen 

 middens in the West Indies, which contains matter of great interest, 

 including bones of new species of mammals, and additional material 

 is expected. 



