REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 41 



an associate of the Museum; Dr. David S. Jordan and Dr. C. II. Gil- 

 bert, of Leland Stanford Junior University; Dr. C. II. Eigenmann, of 

 Indiana University, and the scientific start' of the U. S. Bureau of 

 Fisheries. 



Among - the results accomplished by Dr. William II. Dall, honorary 

 curator of mollusks, may be noted reviews of the nomenclature of the 

 Pupacea, and of the history and classification of the Tritons and Trog- 

 shells, a summary of the recent and fossil land shells of the Bahama 

 Islands, and a number of other papers, some prepared in conjunction 

 with Mr. Paul Bartsch, aid in mollusks. He also began upon a general 

 review of the land and fresh-water mollusks of Alaska and adjacent 

 regions. Mr. Bartsch continued work on the family Pyramidellida 1 , 

 and published descriptions of new species of Scissurella and Sonorella, 

 a note on Limax, and an account of the herons living in the District of 

 Columbia. The- Pacific coast Pectinidse were studied by Mr. Ralph 

 Arnold, of the United States Geological Survey, and the recent and 

 fossil Pleurotomida? by Col. Thomas L. Casey, U. S. Army. The 

 collection of Achatinellas was sent to Prof. Alpheus Hyatt, of the 

 Boston Society of Natural History, and after his death was turned 

 over to Dr. A. G. Mayer, of the Brooklyn Institute, who is to complete 

 his investigation of this group. 



The statf of the division of insects, including its honorary members, 

 has to its credit a total of 114 papers published during the year, but 

 not nearly all of these related to Museum material or were issued b\ T 

 the Museum. The authors were Dr. L. O. Howard, honorary cura- 

 tor; Dr. W. H. Ashmead, assistant curator; Dr. H. G. Dyar, Mr. D. 

 W. Coquillett. and Mr. Nathan Banks, custodians, Mr. R. P. Currie, aid, 

 and Mr. A. N. Caudell. Doctor Ashmead continued his work on the 

 classification of the Hymenoptera and has published his generic revision 

 of the entire order except the ants, or superfamily Formicoidea, which 

 will probably soon be completed. He has also worked up all the 

 Japanese and Philippine Hymenoptera now in the Museum, and papers 

 on this subject will shortly appear in the Proceedings of the Museum. 

 His most important paper of the year was a classification of the Chalcid 

 flies. Among the thirty-one papers prepared by Doctor Dyar, the 

 most noteworthy was one of 160 pages on the Lepidoptera of the 

 Kootenai district of British Columbia. Mr. Coquillett's researches 

 related mainly to the diptera, and those of Mr. Banks to the spiders. 



Studies were made as follows by visitors to the Museum: On the 

 Lepidoptera, by Prof. J. B. Smith, of Rutger's College, Dr. J. W. 

 Holland, of the Carnegie Museum, Mr. W. D. Kearfott, of New York, 

 and Mr. William Schaus, of London; on the Arachnidae by Mr. J. H. 

 Emerton, of Boston, and Prof. R. V. Chamberlain, of Cornell Uni- 

 versity; on the Coleoptera by Mr. C. Schaeffer, of Brooklyn, Dr. 

 Henry Skinner, of Philadelphia, and others. Several physicians have 



