REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 55 



the Department of Agriculture. Most of the edition of volume 27 of 

 the Proceedings was distributed in July, 1904, although a small num- 

 ber of copies were sent out on June 30, the last day of the previous 

 fiscal year. 



The Annual Report for 1903 contained, besides the administrative 

 report of the assistant secretary and the reports of the head curators, 

 with the usual appendices, a paper by the assistant secretary, entitled 

 "The United States National Museum: An account of the buildings 

 occupied by the national collections," and a translation from the 

 German of three papers combined as one by Dr. A. B. Meyer, of 

 Dresden, entitled "Studies of the museums and kindred institutions 

 of New York City, Albany, Buffalo, and Chicago, with notes on some 

 European institutions." The paper by Doctor Meyer, so far as it 

 related to the United States, was based chiefly on personal observa- 

 tions during the summer and autumn of 1899. 



Volume 27 of the Proceedings is composed of papers numbered 

 from 1350 to 1381, inclusive. Papers 1382 to 1406. inclusive, forming 

 the greater part of volume 28 of the Proceedings, were published 

 during the year, and it is expected that this volume will be completed 

 during the summer of 1905. 



The third volume of Mr. Ridgway's work on the "Birds of North 

 and Middle America" contains 821 pages and covers the wagtails 

 and pipits, swallows, waxwings, silky-flycatchers, palm-chats, vireos, 

 shrikes, crows and jays, titmice, nuthatches, creepers, wrens, dip- 

 pers, wren-tits, and warblers. It is illustrated with nineteen plates. 

 The manuscript for volume 4 is well advanced. 



The papers published as part 4 of volume 8, and volume 9 of the 

 "Contributions from the National Herbarium," already mentioned 

 by title, are among the most useful that have appeared in this series. 

 There is considerable activity among American botanists in the 

 study of Mexican and Central American plants, and Doctor Rose's 

 contribution will no doubt be a welcome addition to the literature 

 on this subject. 



The paper by Mr. Safford on the Island of Guam has elicited much 

 favorable comment and is a very important contribution. Mr. 

 Safford, until recently a lieutenant in the U. S. Navy, served as 

 assistant governor of Guam from August, 1899, to August, 1900. 

 He is, therefore, especially well equipped for preparing such a work, 

 which includes an interesting account of the physical characteristics 

 and natural history of the island, the character and history of its 

 people and of their agriculture, and also a descriptive catalogue of 

 the plants. 



These two papers are the only ones from the "Contributions from 

 the National Herbarium" available for distribution by the National 

 Museum, excepting reprints of volumes 2 and 7 , entitled, respectively, 



