REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1918. 59 



Dr. T. W. Stanton reports that after a general rearrangement and 

 classification of the Mesozoic invertebrates, in which he was assisted 

 by Mr. T. E. Williard, the collections of this section are now in ex- 

 cellent condition and easily accessible for study or comparsion. 



The change from the wooden cases to steel ones rendered necessary 

 a complete rearrangement of the Tertiary fossils, which was carried 

 out. An index to the same, comprising several thousand entries, was 

 undertaken and is nearly completed. Under Dr. Dall's direction over 

 150 drawers of fossils illustrating the Tertiary rocks of the West 

 Coast were prepared, the waste material eliminated, and the choice 

 specimens installed in the study series. Although much still remains 

 to be done in the identification of fossils and the eliminating of ma- 

 terial not needed, the Tertiary collections are in excellent condition 

 and readily accessible. 



Dr. Mary J. Rathbun identified a very large number of fragments 

 of crabs obtained from Knob Hill (The Lumber Yard), San Pedro, 

 California, by Mr. T. S. Oldroyd. They belong to the Lower San 

 Pedro series, Pleistocene period. Sixteen species were found, of 

 which 12 are identical with recent forms, three are considered new, 

 and one doubtful. 



Mr. W. E. Crane, whose services have previously added much to 

 the value of the collections, continued his work by arranging and 

 labeling certain of the series, especially the foreign Cephalopoda. 



Dr. Edwin Kirk, paleontologist of the United States Geological 

 Survey, spent some months in the preparation and study of the 

 Museum's Silurian and Devonian collections, particularly those from 

 the western States and Alaska. 



Although Secretary Walcott's time for research and writing was 

 limited by war conditions and the need for his work on military 

 committees, of two of which he was chairman, his studies on trilobites 

 were continued, notably that upon the appendages of trilobites, a 

 preliminary report of which was given before the National Academy 

 of Sciences in April, 1918. The material illustrating this study was 

 greatly enriched by a fine series of Neolenus specimens from the 

 Middle Cambrian Burgess shale fossil quarry. This investigation is 

 now nearly completed and the report will be published shortly. It 

 will supply much new information upon the organization of the 

 trilobite, illustrating its highly developed appendages. The study 

 of the Ptychoparia fauna is still in manuscript, the plates to illus- 

 trate it and descriptions of genera and species having been prepared 

 and revised. 



Dr. Bassler has directed his researches entirely toward the com- 

 pletion of his monograph on the American Early Tertiary Cyclos- 

 tomatous Bryozoa in collaboration with Mr. Ferdinand Canu, of 

 Versailles, France. This work was combined with a monograph 



