30 REPOET OF THE SECRETARY. 



Dr. J. N. Rose was engaged at the close of the fiscal year in explorations in Mexico, 

 where, it is beUeved, he will secure much valuable botanical material. He is 

 accompanied, as already stated, by Dr. Walter Hough, who is charged with the 

 collection of ethno-botanical specimens. Important botanical collections have been 

 made by Messrs. W. T. Swingle and D. G. Fairchild in Europe. Explorations con- 

 ducted by members of the Biological Survey, Department of Agriculture, have resulted 

 in the substantial enrichment of the herbarium. A series of Mexican plants, collected 

 by Mr. E. W. Nelson, was purchased by the Museum. 



The fossil plants from the lower coal measures of Henry Coimty, Missouri, and the 

 carboniferous fossils fi'om Indian Territory, referred to elsewhere, were collected by 

 Messrs. W. P. Jenney, Gilbert Van Ingen, S. A. Miller, and Dr. J. H. Britts, under 

 the auspices of the U. S. Geological Survey. The explorations of Mr. H. E. Dickhaut, 

 of the Survey, in the vicinity of Lockport, New York, and of Mr. Paul Bartsch, of 

 the Museum staff, in Iowa, yielded important results. The former collected a valu- 

 able series of Medina and Niagara fossils, and the latter, Hamilton corals and Kinder- 

 hook fossils. Geological material obtained by Mr. F. W. Crosby in Eiu-ope, and by 

 Mr. Edward Palmer, in Mexico, has been added to the collections. 



Accessions. — There was an increase of 55 in the number of accessions for the year, 

 the total being 1,497. Owing to the limitations of space, it is impossible to do more 

 than refer briefly in this place to some of the most important of them, under the 

 heads of anthropology, biology, and geology. The material obtained by special expe- 

 ditions has already been referred to. 



Anthropology. — The collection of ethnological specimens from the Indian tribes of 

 the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, purchased from INIr. E. Granier, of Paris, 

 France, contains about 1,000 specimens, many of which are of exceptional value, 

 having been collected a number of years ago. They comprise articles of costume, 

 implements of many kinds, ceremonial objects, etc. The specimens of beadwork 

 and quill embroidery are especially notable. 



A collection of great value illustrating INIexican etlinology and archaeology was 

 obtained from Mr. E. W. Nelson. The number of specimens is not large, but they 

 have especial value to the Museum as coming from districts rarely visited by its 

 representatives. 



From Dr. E. Palmer some additional Mexican material has been received, a feature 

 of especial interest being a native still of most primitive construction. 



A second collection of stone implements and miscellaneous relics was purchased 

 from Dr. Roland Steiner during the month of June, but the specimens have not yet 

 been catalogued. The same may be said of a very important collection of Indian 

 basketry obtained from Dr. W. J. Hudson, of Ukiah, California. 



Among the more important collections of electrical objects received during the 

 year is one deposited by Miss Sarah J. Farmer, of EUot, Maine. It consists of 

 various pieces of apparatus devised and used by the late Moses G. Farmer in his 

 experimental work in the various branches of electrical science. 



Other collections of interest, illustrating this branch, may be briefly mentioned: 

 Original fire alarm telegraph apparatus, deposited by the fire department of Bos- 

 ton, Massachusetts, through correspondence with Col. H. S. Russell, fire commissioner; 

 a collection of insulated and uninsulated conductors used for the transmission of cur- 

 rents of electricity for lighting and power purposes, besides some telegraph and tele- 

 phone cables and trolley wires, lent by John A. Roebling's Sons Company, of Trenton, 

 New Jersey; a pocket telegraph instrument made by J. D. Caton, Ottawa, Illinois, 

 and a Morse telegraph relay and sounder made of silver by S. W. Chubbuck, Utica, 

 New York, and deposited in the Museum by D. Wilmot Smith, of Breckinridge, 

 Minnesota. 



Biology. — Mr. W. B. INIoss, of Ashton-under-Lyne, England, presented a collection 

 of about 3,000 specimens of small shells, mostly marine gastropods, collected by the 



