EEPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 33 



recent surveys of the steamer Albatross on the Pacific coast. 

 Through the courtesy of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, 

 about 1,000 specimens of corals from the Bahama Islands and 

 Florida, 300 specimens from Australia, and many other marine forms 

 were acquired. The Bureau of Entomology was the principal con- 

 tributor of insects, which belonged mainly to the Hymenoptera, Dip- 

 tera, and Odonata. Peruvian Diptera to the number of over 3,000, 

 besides several hundred preparations, were presented by Dr. C. H. T. 

 Townsend; and numerous wasps and other insects, by Dr. T, D. A. 

 Cockerell. Two other important collections, consisting of Coleoptera 

 and Hymenoptera, were received from Copenhagen. 



The number of plants received was greater than in any of the pre- 

 vious 10 years except 1913. Nearly one-fourth were deposited by the 

 Department of Agriculture, including 7,300 specimens of grasses, of 

 Avhich the larger part wdll be distributed in sets to scientific establish- 

 ments. Two other noteworthy collections from the same department 

 consisted of phanerogams from the western United States and west- 

 ern Canada. Important accessions otherwise obtained came from the 

 West Indies, the Philippine Islands, China, the Canary Islands, 

 western South America, Mexico, and several of the States. 



Though the accessions in geology were not extensive, they fur- 

 nished a considerable variety of valuable material. A collection 

 from the Geological Survey was illustrative of the economic phases 

 of the feldspar deposits of the United States. Individual gifts com- 

 prised excellent specimens of ferberite-bearing pegmatite from Ari- 

 zona; tungsten ore and roscoelite-bearing sandstone from Colorado; 

 and a sample of ferro-vanadium made from patronite ores of Minas- 

 ragra, Peru ; besides several slabs of marble for the exhibition series 

 of ornamental stones. The meteorite collection was enriched by 

 specimens from 13 falls, obtained by gift, exchange, and purchase, 

 to which may be added fragments of 12 meteorites deposited by the 

 National Academy of Sciences. 



The most important single accession in mineralogy consisted of 

 several hundred specimens of minerals and cut stones, including a 

 suite of unique titantic crystals from an exhausted locality at Bridge- 

 water, Pa., received as a bequest from the late Brig. Gen. William H. 

 Forwood, United States Army. Among the transfers from the 

 Geological Survey were various lots of gem minerals, in both rough 

 and cut form, including many specimens of exceptional value, con- 

 sisting for the most part of types of new species, or restudied and 

 redescribed material from new localities. From several other sources 

 rare and interesting examples were also obtained, such as one of the 

 largest known nuggets of osmiridium, large crystals of phenacite, 

 tarbuttite, roepperite, pseudomorphs from the Blue Jay Copper 

 Mine, scheelite, large rhodonites, etc. The additions in petrology 

 18618°— SM 1915 3 



