BEPOET OF THE SECEETARY. 41 



The principal accessions of insects consisted of Lepidoptera and 

 Diptera deposited by the Bureau of Entomology, of named species 

 of beetles and Hjanenoptera from Australia, and of types of new 

 species presented by Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell. 



The division of plants received several large and important col- 

 lections. The Department of Agriculture transferred over 6,600 

 specimens, of which a considerable proportion were grasses. Some 

 8,000 specimens, representing the field work of Dr. J. N. Rose in 

 connection with his cactus investigations in Brazil and Argentina 

 during the summer of 1915, were deposited by the Carnegie Institution 

 of Washington ; and about 2,000 specimens secured by the Peruvian 

 expedition of 1914—15 were presented by the National Geographic So- 

 ciety and Yale University. Among other important accessions were 

 specimens from the Philippines, Amboina, China, and Panama. 



Geology. — During explorations in the Rocky Mountain region in 

 the summer of 1915, Dr. Charles D. Walcott procured for the Museum 

 in the Yellowstone National Park a large and well-selected series of 

 the siliceous and calcareous sinters, including some masses of excep- 

 tional size, native sulphur, silicified wood, sundry mineral specimens, 

 and an extensive representation of volcanic rocks, intended in part 

 for an exhibition of the geological features of that park. Among 

 other important acquisitions were illustrations of the geology and 

 mineral associations of the pegmatite deposits of southern California, 

 and of the emerald mines at Muzo, Colombia ; a number of scheelite 

 specimens of more than ordinary interest from Utah ; and an unusu- 

 ally fine large specimen of secondary copper sulphate from the Sil- 

 ver Bow Mine, Mont. The Geological Survey transferred examples 

 of the nitrate deposits in Idaho and Oregon, and of potash-bearing 

 salts and associated rocks from the vicinity of Tonopah, Nev. ; and 

 Dr. Joseph P. Iddings presented some fine specimens of the peculiar 

 problematic bodies known as obsidianites and Darwin glass from 

 Borneo and Tasmania, and an important series of phosphate rocks 

 from Ocean and Makatea Islands. 



By the will of Dr. Charles Upham Shepard, who died early in 

 July, 1915, the very important collection of meteorites belonging to 

 him, which has been on deposit for a number of years, was bequeathed 

 to the Museum ; while from several other sources material represent- 

 ing 32 distinct falls of meteorites in many different parts of the 

 world was also acquired. 



The mineral collection received many additions, including excep- 

 tionally fine specimens, examples of recent finds and several rare 

 species, the largest accession, a deposit from the Geological Survey, 

 consisting of about 300 specimens mostly illustrative of a report by 

 Dr. W. T. Schaller on the gem minerals of the pegmatites of Cali- 

 fornia. From the same Survey was also transferred a large amount 



