REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1911. 37 



A finely preserved specimen, with young, of the torpedo ray {Nar- 

 cine) was received as a gift from Mr. A. G. Reynolds, of Veteran, 

 Florida. 



The very extensive collections of this division, almost exclusively 

 alcoholic, were moved to the new building during July and August, 

 1910, and by the end of the year they had been tentatively arranged 

 on the shelves of the alcoholic storage room, in accordance with the 

 classification of the families of fishes proposed by Dr. Theodore 

 Gill, somewhat modified by himself, 324 families being recognized. 

 The number of specimens incorporated in the collections during the 

 year was about 15,000, exclusive of material from the Smithsonian 

 biological survey of the Panama Canal Zone, which had not been 

 accessioned. With much left over to be done in connection with 

 the exceptionally large receipts of the previous year, the past year 

 has been one of the busiest in the history of the division. Four 

 thousand entries, covering 25,000 specimens, were added to the reg- 

 ister, thousands of cards were prepared for the systematic catalogue, 

 and thousands of labels for the jars and bottles. 



Investigations by the assistant curator, Mr. B. A. Bean, and the 

 aid, Mr. A. C. Weed, have related to the fish fauna of the District 

 of Columbia, the Bryant collection of fishes from Java, and the 

 lesser star-gazers, Dactyloscopidse. A number of small collections 

 and much other material received during the year were identified. 

 The collections have been consulted by Dr. Theodore Gill, of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, and by Dr. W. C. Kendall and Mr. Lewis 

 Radcliffe, of the Bureau of Fisheries. For the working up of the 

 extensive collection of fishes made in the region of the Philippine 

 Islands by the steamer Albatross of this bureau, laboratory quarters 

 have been provided in one of the Museum buildings. Visits were 

 made to the Museum by Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell, of the University 

 of Colorado, and Prof. E. C. Starks, of Stanford University, the 

 former for the purpose of studying some forms of cyprinoid fishes, 

 the latter to examine certain sharks and other fishes. 



Insects. — The Bureau of Entomology of the Department of Agri- 

 culture was, as usual, the principal contributor to this division. Mr. 

 S. A. Rohwer, of that bureau, also generously presented his private 

 collection of hymenoptera (exclusive of the sawflies which he had 

 given the previous year), comprising about 800 specimens, repre- 

 senting about 500 species, and containing 121 types and paratypes of 

 Vespoidea and Sphecoidea, and the types of 3 parasitic hymenoptera. 

 Mr. P. R. Myers, aid in the division of insects, likewise donated his 

 private collection of hymenoptera, consisting of about 3,400 speci- 

 mens. From Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell several small lots of specimens, 

 including 5 types and 7 cotypes of new species, were received as a 

 gift. Mr. F. Du Cane Godman, of London, presented, through Mr. 



