844 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OP FISH AND FISHERIES. [2] 



In his report for L885 he wrote: 



"There has also been hearty co operation with the work of investiga- 

 tion by various men of seience, notably by those connected with Gov- 

 ernment bureaus of this and other countries, and with many of the 

 leading colleges and educational organizations of the country. To the 

 latter it has been possible for the Commission to supply, in return, col- 

 lections of marine forms and other material of great value for class-room 

 instruction and for museum purposes. These collections involve no ex- 

 pense to the recipients beyond the cost of freight, of alcohol, and of suit- 

 able receptacles for exhibition and storage, and are assigned to schools 

 and colleges upon recommendation of. the member of Congress from the 

 district in which the institutions are located." 



The following is a copy of the circular which was usually sent to ap- 

 plicants for these specimens : 



" Some of the duplicate specimens of marine invertebrates collected 

 by the U. S. Fish Commission have been arranged into sets for distribu- 

 tion to educational establishments throughout the country. They are 

 partly dry and partly in alcohol, each specimen accompanied by a 

 printed label giving name, locality, etc. The sets contain about 10.") 

 species each, and represent many of the principal families, orders, and 

 genera of Crustaceans, Mollusks, Radiates, and Sponges of the North 

 Atlantic. 



" To obtain one of these sets application must be made through and 

 indorsed by a member of Congress and must contain an assurance 

 that the expense of proper exhibition will be met. Alcoholic specimens 

 are packed in a number of storage jars, from which they must be re- 

 moved and each placed in a separate bottle. The cost of jars and al- 

 cohol generally amounts to from $25 to $40, but these materials are 

 not furnished by the Fish Commission." 



These series of duplicates were all prepared by Mr. Eichard Rathbun, 

 the first series at !New Haven, Conn., under the direction of Prof. A. 

 E. Verrill, the remainder at the National Museum. The following ex- 

 planatory remarks are quoted from the official lists : 



"The specimens included in the following list are preserved in alcohol, 

 unless otherwise stated. The authority given for the uame is usually 

 the author who first used the combined binomial name herein adopted, 

 and is not necessarily that of the author who first described the species 

 or gave the specific name. (A name in parentheses is authority for the 

 specific name only.) 



"The species are not all included in each of the fifty sets, but those 

 sent in eaeh numbered set are checked on the list bearing the correspond- 

 ing number. The species now distributed are not to be considered as 

 the most common, but simply those which happen to be at present most 

 abundantly represented in the collections of the Fish Commission, or 



*Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 1879, pp. 227-232 ; 1881, pp. 

 298-303, 30 1-307 ; 1883, pp. 212-210. 



