REPORT. 



•* I ^HE past year has been one of external rather than internal 

 activities, and although the various departments show a con- 

 siderable increase and are generally in a creditable condition, it is 

 fair to say that what the Museum staff has done outside the Museum 

 walls is far more important and far more beneficial to the well- 

 being of the Institution. 



Last year the Trustees liberally granted Dr. CM. Cooke, 

 an opportunity to study the type specimens of Hawaiian Land 

 Shells that are in foreign museums or private collecftions, and his 

 absence on this (which may truly be called an exploring expedi- 

 tion) has extended over the principal part of the 3'ear 1906. His 

 report is incorporated with this and will show how important the 

 work of comparison has been in its relation to the most important 

 zoological group on these islands. Dr. Cooke's visit to man}' of 

 the principal conchologists of England and America will doubtless 

 result in enlarged opportunities for exchange of specimens and 

 mutual information. Simultaneously with this work the Museum 

 has been printing a compilation of original descriptions of Hawaiian 

 Achatinellidffi, which will be another help to the study of this 

 interesting group. 



Early in the year the Carnegie Institution of Washington 

 made a grant to the Diredior to enable him to continue his re- 

 searches on Hawaiian worship which seemed to demand a greater 

 outlay than the Museum funds could well spare from the general 



expenses of maintenance. The specific grant was made for the 



(3; 



