lO SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 



A line of cooperation, the value of which, while great, it is im- 

 possible to estimate, is the distribution to schools, colleges, and pri- 

 vate workers, of specimens of all kinds to aid in their studies. The 

 report of the Institution for 1867 states that 249,233 specimens of 

 all kinds had been distributed up to that early date. During the 46 

 years from 1876 to 1922, there were distributed upward of 771,000 

 specimens, bringing the total number to upward of 1,000,000. 



Cooperation with educators and students does not end with the 

 furnishing of materials for their natural history and other studies. 

 The exhibition collections are all designed with the view, not merely 

 to attract the public, but to aid the student, and members of the staff 

 of certain departments frequently conduct classes through the halls 

 explaining the uses of the objects exhibited. The study series are 

 always at the service of accredited students, and the publications are 

 supplied free of cost. Lectures are delivered before schools or other 

 organizations, and have also been prepared for delivery throughout 

 the country in cooperation with the Young Men's Christian Associa- 

 tion and like organizations. 



The following more detailed instances of cooperative work will 

 show to an extent the wide range and varied nature of the projects 

 undertaken by the Museum. 



DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY 



North Pacific Fiir-Seal Investigations. — The cooperation of the 

 Museum with the various Government agencies concerned in the 

 investigation of the North Pacific fur-seals and fur-seal industry 

 dates back to 1882, when a project jointly undertaken by the Na- 

 tional Museum, the U. S. Fish Commission, and the U. S. Signal 

 Service was carried into effect by sending Dr. Leonhard Stejneger 

 to the Commander Islands, a group of fur-seal islands belonging to 

 Russia and situated off the coast of Kamchatka. He remained 18 

 months on the islands, surveying the rookeries, studying the habits 

 of the seals, managing a third-class meteorologic station, and making 

 large collections of the animals and plants for the Museum. 



In 1895 the U. S. Fish Commission, on account of the tremendous 

 inroads on the fur-seal herds caused by pelagic sealing, desired a 

 thorough investigation of the whole question, and for that purpose 

 obtained the detail of Drs. F. W. True and Leonhard Stejneger, both 

 of the National Museum, the former to visit the Pribilof Islands, the 

 latter the Commander Islands. The whole summer was spent on the 

 islands, and upon their return, each submitted a voluminous report, 

 which was published. 



