56 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1922. 



received as an exchange from the California Academy of Sciences, 

 San Francisco, Calif.; 700 specimens from New York, received as a 

 gift from W. C. Muenscher, Ithaca, N. Y. 



EXPLORATIONS AND EXPEDITIONS. 



From the standpoint of exploration and expeditions the year just 

 completed shows very little improvement over 1920-21. The number 

 of expeditions contributing material to the department of biology, 

 according to the reports of curators, was 18; of this number no less 

 than 10 were both financed and directed by our outside friends and 

 correspondents, 7 were financed by others and partly or wholly di- 

 rected by members of our staff, while only 1 was wholly under our 

 control. These facts call for repetition and emphasis of the com- 

 ments made by the head curator in his 1920-21 report, as follows: 

 " It must be set down as an indisputable proposition that a large 

 museum, and most assuredly one aspiring to be among the leading 

 museums, and, moreover, one representing the richest nation in the 

 world, can not maintain its standing without being able to send out 

 properly planned and properly fitted-out expeditions for the pur- 

 pose of expanding, supplementing, and completing its collections. 

 Take these away and the institution must infallibly sink down to an 

 humble place among those striving for the purpose of science and the 

 benefit of mankind, and, incidentally, the benefit and glory of the 

 country they represent. The value of a national museum of natural 

 history is not so much in the display it is able to make as in the 

 opportunity for research and exploration. It is not too much to say 

 that for such a museum exploration is the very breath of life. Even 

 in countries impoverished by war, directly or indirectly, an honorable 

 and, let it be said, not altogether vain struggle is being kept up to 

 continue the work of adding to the world's knowledge as circum- 

 stances will best permit. If we look back upon the past history of 

 our own institution, is it not clear that the high achievement we have 

 attained and the splendid position we have reached are due in a great 

 measure to the surveys and explorations which have emanated from 

 here and the researches and studies of our men based on the material 

 collected? The reputation of the Smithsonian Institution and its 

 offshoot, the National Museum, it is no exaggeration to say is largely 

 based upon just that kind of work. To live up to that reputation, 

 to keep from sliding down from this enviable position, it will be 

 necessary to find means for future explorations maturely planned 

 and energetically carried out." 



The following are some of the more noteworthy of the expeditions 

 which have enriched our collections: 



Through the continued generosity of Dr. William L. Abbott, 

 Jharles M. Hoy concluded his work of collecting for the Museum 



