28 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904. 



the midst of the famous Catlin collection of Indian portraits, and 

 numerous relics deposited by the National Society of the Daughters 

 of the American Revolution. 



The technological exhibits have been materially increased, among 

 the accessions of special and to a great extent also of historical interest 

 being a collection of rifles, muskets, and other firearms, 615 in num- 

 ber, showing the improvements of many years and containing several 

 noteworthy pieces, deposited b} T the Bureau of Ordnance of the War 

 Department; a collection of sporting rifles of the kinds used in this 

 country prior to about 1850, accompanied by powderhorns, etc., lent 

 by Mr. Herman Hollerith; a finely finished .44-caliber rifle made by 

 Henry Deringer, of Philadelphia, and often used by David Crockett 

 in target practice, lent b} T Col. Wright Rives; a rare form of flintlock 

 pistol with folding bayonet, presented by Mr. Paul Beckwith; a col- 

 lection of Morse telegraph keys, insulators, and other electrical appa- 

 ratus in use about 1850, presented by the Pennsylvania Railroad 

 Company; a telegraph switch invented in 1855 by E. W. Culgan, of 

 Pittsburg, and generally employed down to 1865, donated by Mr. 

 C. S. Greer, of Zanesville, Ohio, and a collection illustrating the 

 development of the hand camera, contributed by the Eastman Kodak 

 Company. 



The accessions to the Department of Biology embraced 151,273 

 specimens, or nearly 11,0(>0 more than the previous year. The col- 

 lection of insects was increased by 58,953 specimens and the herba- 

 rium by 13,800, the remaining 18,520 specimens being divided among 

 the other divisions. 



The most extensive of the zoological additions in point of number 

 of specimens consisted of about 40,000 insects collected in British 

 Columbia by Dr. Harrison G. Dyar, assisted by Mr. R. P. Currie and 

 Mr. A. X. Caudell. The Bureau of Fisheries transmitted large col- 

 lections of land and fresh-water shells, reptiles, and crustaceans from 

 Indiana and other States; a valuable series of marine mollusks, chiefly 

 from Alaska; the types of recently described fishes from Japan, the 

 Hawaiian Islands, etc.; fishes, crustaceans, and corals secured in con- 

 nection with the Alaskan Salmon Fisheries Investigation of 1903, and 

 461 plants from Alaska and Oregon. 



Especially worthy of mention are important zoological contributions 

 from the Mentawei Archipelago, eastern Sumatra, and the various 

 islands off that coast, obtained and presented by Dr. William L. 

 Abbott. Thirty 7 -one new forms of mammals, including one new genus 

 and two new species of gibbon and several new species of birds, are 

 represented in the collection from the archipelago, while that from 

 eastern Sumatra also contains very valuable material, among which 

 are numerous forms of birds and reptiles not previously represented 

 in the Museum. Several valuable lots of mammals, birds, and mol- 



