30 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1937 



Dr. E. A. Chapin, curator of insects, spent about 6 -weeks in 

 Jamaica, whore, after examining entomological collections in Habana, 

 he collected insects on the island in conjunction with Dr. and Mrs. 

 Richard E. Blackwclder. Several families of beetles, hitherto un- 

 known from the island, were taken, as well as many species recognized 

 as new to science. They also took over a thousand specimens repre- 

 senting seven species of the family Dryopidae, previously recorded 

 as nonexistent on the island. A new and interesting coccinellid of 

 the genus Psyllohora was found feeding on a mold growing upon the 

 leaves of beach-grape {Coccoloha uvifcra), and at least two unde- 

 scribed species of Scarabaeidae have been recognized in the material 

 collected. 



Dr. Waldo L. Schmitt, curator of marine invertebrates, was 

 naturalist on the Smithsonian-Hartford expedition to the West In- 

 dies, traveling on one of the last of the square-rigged ships afloat, 

 the Joseph Conrad, through invitation of the owner, G. Huntington 

 Hartford, and accompanied by Robert G. Lunz, of the Cliarleston 

 Museum, as assistant. The party began work on March 15 at Nassau 

 in the Bahamas and in 2 months traveled as far south as Barbados. 

 In all they covered about 4,500 miles, making 19 stops for collecting 

 on 15 different islands. The exi)edition, aided greatly by the excellent 

 equipment i)rovided by Mr. Hartford, was eminently successful. 

 More than 4,000 specimens of marine invctebrates were obtained, 

 chiefly Crustacea, but including also sponges, coelenteratcs, annelids, 

 moUusks, echinoderms, and lower chordates. Vertebrate material 

 brought back included fishes and two adult porpoises, in one of which 

 was found an embryo. 



Dr. Paul Bartsch, curator of mollusks, was a member of the Smith- 

 sonian-Roebling expedition to the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of 

 Mexico in the spring of 1937. Traveling on Donald Roebling's 

 yacht lorano, the party worked from Habana, Cuba, around the 

 western end of the island and along the south coast as far as 

 Guantanamo. Extensive marine collections were obtained over a 

 wide area. These include material previously poorly represented in 

 the Museum, which is now being studied and rapidly identified. 



Geology. — Sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, Dr. R. S. 

 Bassler, head curator of geology, spent the first 3 months of the fiscal 

 year in geological studies of several classic European areas and in 

 researches on echinoderms and other fossils in English, German, and 

 Dutch museums. He completed studies on several groups of Paleozoic 

 corals and sponges, prepared about 600 casts of Upper Paleozoic 

 crinoid types, collected Tertiary fossils from the Paris, Vienna, and 

 London Basins, and visited the Devonian area of Germany and 

 Czechoslovakia. 



