REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1908. bl 
work on the flora of North America, Dr. P. A. Rydberg studying 
the Rosacew and Mr. Percy Wilson the Rutacew. The desert plants 
of the southwestern United States were the subject of investigation 
by Doctor and Mrs. Volney Spaulding, of Tucson, Arizona, and 
plants of California by Miss Alice Eastwood, of the California 
Academy of Sciences. Mr. W. W. Eggleston, of Rutland, Vermont, 
made several visits to examine specimens of Crataegus. The bota- 
nists of the Department of Agriculture made constant use of the 
herbarium. 
About 2,800 specimens, the largest number since 1904, were lent 
to botanists outside of the government service, both in the United 
States and Europe. The principal sendings were as follows: One 
thousand and sixty-seven specimens of Nyctaginacee to Mr. Paul 
C. Standley, of the New Mexico College of Agriculture; 440 ferns 
of the genus Dryopteris to Mr. C. Christensen, of the Botanical 
Museum, Copenhagen ; 190 specimens of the genus Wissadula to Prot. 
R. E. Fries, of the Botanical Museum, Upsala; and 153 specimens, 
chiefly Colombian Composite, to Dr. J. M. Greenman, of the Field 
Museum of Natural History. 
DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY. 
The total number of geological and paleontological specimens ac- 
quired during the year was nearly 33,000, comprised in 147 accessions. 
Twenty lots of specimens were lent to investigators for study, 149 
sets of dupheates were distributed to educational establishments, and 
15 lots of duplicates were used in making exchanges. ‘Twenty-two 
papers by members of the staff and by others descriptive of material 
belonging in the department were published. They are cited in the 
bibhography. As explained elsewhere, the division of stratigraphic 
paleontology was separated into three divisions, corresponding with 
former sections, as follows: Invertebrate paleontology, vertebrate 
paleontology, and paleobotany. 
Systematic and applied geology—TVhe most important accessions 
to this division were as follows: By transfer from the U. S. Geolog- 
ical Survey, specimens of rocks from the Rockland quadrangle, 
Maine, the Austin and Brackett quadrangles, Texas, and the Redding 
quadrangle, California, and rocks and ores from the Coeur d’Alene 
district, Idaho; as gifts from Mr. Charles P. Robbins, the Southern 
Railway, and the Utah Antimony Company, respectively, examples 
of tin ores from Spokane, Washington, of copper ore from Ducktown, 
Tennessee, and of antimony ores from Utah. 
No noteworthy changes were made in either the exhibition or study 
series. The former is as extensive as the space will permit, and is 
fully catalogued and labeled. The dust occasioned by the rebuilding 
of the roofs rendered necessary the thorough cleaning and overhaul- 
