REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1922. 59 



cipally in the rich region about Quirigua. Here the United Fruit 

 Co. maintains a well-equipped hospital, which served as an ex- 

 cellent base of operation. The work was expedited in many ways 

 by this company and by the officials of the Ferrocarril Internacional 

 de Centro-America. Altogether over 6,000 numbers were collected, 

 which will be divided among the contributing institutions. 



Dr. A. S. Hitchcock, custodian of the grass herbarium, returned 

 in December, 1921, from a collecting trip of eight months in eastern 

 Asia, during Avhich about 2,000 numbers of grasses were collected, 

 mainly in Japan, the Philippine Islands, central and southern China, 

 French Indo-China, and the island of Hainan, lying off the south- 

 ern coast of China. Special attention was given to the bamboos in 

 assembling material for use in the preparation of a monograph on 

 this group. Particular interest attaches also to the collections 

 secured on Hainan, the flora of this island being nearly unknown. 



The expedition alluded to as the only one under the exclusive 

 control of the Museum was a trip to the interior of Alaska, under- 

 taken by Dr. John M. Aldrich, associate curator of insects. In his 

 report he describes this journey as follows : " The Museum paid my 

 expenses and the Alaska Engineering Commission, a branch of the 

 Department of the Interior, furnished me with horses and their sub- 

 sistence, and with transportation on the Alaskan Eailroad. About 

 10,000 specimens were collected during June and July. They con- 

 sisted mainly of Diptera and Hymenoptera, with a fair number of 

 Hemiptera. The trip has been described in the year's Smithsonian 

 Exploration pamphlet (Smith's Misc. Coll., vol. 72, No. 15), page 52." 



WOEK OF PRESERVING AND INSTALLING THE COLLECTIONS PRESENT CONDITION OP THE 



COLLECTIONS. 



The conditions which have hampered the development of the 

 biological exhibition since the later years of the war and which have 

 been sufficiently described in the last two annual reports continue 

 in full force. It therefore remains impossible to do more than 

 remedy special defects as opportunity presents. A large wall case 

 has been made at the north end of the African section to accommo- 

 date the two mounted giraffes and the okapi. It is expected that 

 the placing of the giraffes under glass, where they will no longer 

 be exposed to extremes of temperature conditions, will greatly pro- 

 long the life of these valuable specimens. The fine series of Aus- 

 tralian mammals collected by Mr. Hoy has made possible a complete 

 renovation of the kangaroo case. Most of the old specimens have 

 been replaced by new ones mounted by Mr. Brown, assisted by Mr. 

 Aschemeier. The wooden bases on which the specimens were for- 

 merly placed have been removed, and the substitution of the gen- 

 eral sand base for the entire case has made possible an installation 



