94 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1921, 
Mr. J. W. Gidley’s long absence in the field prevented the com- 
pletion of his researches on the Fort Union Primates. However, his 
studies are nearing an end, and he hopes to present the results for 
publication in a short time. Some progress has also been made on 
the study of the Cumberland Cave carnivores. 
Within the year, 347 lots of material have been sent in from vari- 
ous sources for determination. No inconsiderable amount of time is 
spent in this work. In the majority of cases, a laboratory test is 
necessary to determine the nature of the material, and when fossils 
are submitted, one lot often consists of a number of forms which 
frequently require careful study. Incidentally, the clerical work 
necessary to keep track of these, and in writing the reports, is a con- 
siderable item in the day’s work. In addition to this, and aside from 
inquiries which come direct to members of the staff, 484 letters from 
persons seeking information on various subjects have passed through 
the office within the year. 
Various students outside the staff have engaged in researches on 
the collections, particularly the paleontological. Dr. August F. 
Foerste, of Dayton, Ohio, spent the summer of 1920 in a study of 
Silurian cephalopods and Ordovician trilobites; Dr. Arthur Hollick 
has been engaged for a part of the year studying the Alaskan floras, 
under the auspices of the United States Geological Survey. Miss 
Winifred Goldring, of the New York State Museum; Prof. E. W. 
Berry, of Johns Hopkins University; Dr. Ralph Chaney, of the 
University of California; and Dr. G. R. Wieland, of Yale University, 
have likewise been students of the plant collections. Mr. A. 8. 
Romer, of Columbia University, New York, studied our Permian 
reptilian and amphibian materials in connection with his thesis on 
comparative myology; Mr. Childs Frick, of New York, spent some 
time in looking over our Equus specimens in connection with his 
studies of the Pacific coast Pliocene and Pleistocene faunas; and Mr. 
Remington Kellogg, of the Biological Survey, studied certain of our 
cetacean materials as an aid to his investigations of the Pacific coast 
Cetacea. It might be said that aside from the advantage to the 
student, the help of these various specialists is of very great benefit 
to the collections. 
Messrs. Palache, of Harvard University, and Hewett and Larsen, 
of the Geological Survey, have collaborated on sundry; occasions 
with Messrs. Shannon and Foshag, as will appear in their publica- 
tions. Cooperation with the Maryland Geological Survey is shown 
in the forthcoming Silurian volume of that organization, a work 
which has resulted in the acquisition of many type specimens 
by the National Museum. Mr. Bruce Wade, of the Geological Sur- 
vey of Tennessee, has studied and described the Museum’s large col- 
lection of Cretaceous fossils from that State; Dr. O. P. Hay has 
