38 ANNUAL, REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1923 



there came to Washington. So intensive was this study of the 

 native fauna, especially that of the vertebrates, that within a com- 

 paratively short time North America, from a taxonomic point of 

 view, was better explored and better known than any other part of 

 the world, Europe itself not excepted. At the time these intensive 

 studies began North America was regarded as one of the primary 

 zoogeographical divisions of the world, coequal with South America, 

 the oriental region, Africa, and the Europe-North Asian region, also 

 known as the palearctic region. Later on considerable collections 

 from the Pacific coasts of northern Asia and from Europe found 

 their way into the National Museum. It was then seen that the 

 North American fauna, at least that part which occupied the more 

 temperate portions of the continent northward, is most closely re- 

 lated to the palearctic fauna of temperate Asia and northward, and 

 it was realized that the dominant constituency of the North Ameri- 

 can fauna actually had its origin in the Old World. Here then is a 

 whole series of closely related problems seeking solution in Asia and 

 Europe. The circumstance that the United States Biological Sur- 

 vey has gradually taken over to a great extent the restricted North 

 American field for still more refined cultivation serves to stimulate 

 the interest of certain of the larger divisions of the National 

 Museum in the palearctic region. The Museum has already made a 

 good start in that direction. It has excellent collections in many 

 lines of the palearctic fauna. Its collection of European mammals 

 is one of the most comprehensive extent. It has excellent series of 

 birds, reptiles, and batrachians from Japan, Korea, and Kamchatka 

 in eastern Asia, besides a respectable representation in other classes. 

 It has also important material collected by the Lyman-Hollister 

 expedition to the Altai region some years ago, and the Koren- Avery 

 expedition to the mouth of the Kolyma. 



It is, therefore, with special gratification that attention is called to 

 the work now in preparation and partly in progress for the biological 

 exploration of China in the interest of the National Museum. The 

 field work by Arthur de C. Sowerby, the expense of which is most 

 generously met by Robert S. Clark, which was started in the fall 

 of 1921, has continued during the present fiscal year, and very ma- 

 terial additions to our vertebrate collections have already resulted. 



Of equal significance is the fact that Dr. W. L. Abbott, after the 

 return of Mr. Charles M. Hoy from Australia, decided to send him 

 to China to collect for the Museum. Mr. Hoy departed for his 

 new field on December 15, 1922. Thus far no collections have been 

 received, due to difficulties of transportation and the political situa- 

 tion which has placed obstacles in the way of reaching the final 

 destination, but recent letters indicate that we may soon see tangible 

 results of his efforts. 



