REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1911. 45 



stop at any place, but, nevertheless, the results of the trip were ex- 

 ceedingly satisfactory. Of marine invertebrates, especially mollusks, 

 a large and fine series was obtained, and of plants, about 2,000 her- 

 barium specimens and 1,000 living specimens, mostly cacti, were 

 secured. 



During the year, a biological survey of the Panama Canal Zone and 

 adjacent regions was begun on the initiative and partly at the 

 expense of the Smithsonian Institution. That the completion of the 

 interoceanic canal and consequent mingling of the fresh waters of 

 the Atlantic and Pacific watersheds may influence the distribution 

 of certain classes of organisms and even lead to the extermination of 

 some forms, made it important that such an exploration be under- 

 taken without delay, but the work was planned on a broad basis, to 

 be conducted with such assistance and cooperation as could be secured 

 from any source. The project received the approval of the President 

 of the United States and has been warmly supported by the Secre- 

 taries of War, of Agriculture, and of Commerce and Labor. The 

 War Department has aided by furnishing transportation and sub- 

 sistence. Field work was conducted during last year by the Bureaus 

 of Plant Industry, Entomology, and Biological Survey of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, and during next year is expected to be 

 taken up by the Bureau of Fisheries of the Department of Commerce 

 and Labor. The Field Museum of Natural History has also partici- 

 pated in the exploration, having sent Prof. S. E. Meek with a party 

 to investigate the fishes. The collections made by the Government 

 bureaus will eventually be deposited in the National Museum, and 

 those obtained by Professor Meek will be divided. While this survey 

 is certain to yield interesting scientific results, it is also likely to lead 

 to information of much economic value, which is important in view 

 of the close relationship of the region with the United States. 



Only one member of the Museum staff, Mr. W. R. Maxon, assistant 

 curator of plants, was detailed to this exploration during the year, 

 the main object of his trip being to collect ferns and the lower cryp- 

 togams. On February 3, 1911, he joined Prof. Henry Pit-tier, of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, who, on account of his special qualifica- 

 tions and his experience in Central America, had been placed in 

 charge of the botanical investigations and was already in the field. 

 From Culebra as headquarters, collecting was actively carried on 

 along the 50-mile stretch of the Panama Railroad and into the adja- 

 cent jungle and forest. Several days were also spent in the neighbor- 

 hood of Porto Bello, on the Atlantic coast. The most interesting 

 expedition, lasting between five and six weeks, was one to the moun- 

 tain region of Chiriqui in Panama, adjacent to Costa Rica, the botany 

 of which was almost wholly unknown. From Boquete, at the south- 

 ern base of the interoceanic divide, several trips were made success- 



