REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 83 



U. S. Navy. In order to replenish the collection with fresh material 

 and to obtain duplicate specimens for distribution, Messrs. Bean and 

 McKnew, as already mentioned, visited Beaufort, North Carolina. 

 The}' obtained a large series of specimens. A specimen of the rare 

 Japanese shark, Mitsukurina owstont, 11 feet long, was purchased. 



MollwJcs. — Rev. L. T. Chamberlain presented a small collection of 

 rare river mussels, or Unionidse, for addition to extensive earlier con- 

 tributions. About 2,500 specimens of several species of western 

 American shells were presented by Dr. R. E. C. Stearns, honorary 

 associate in zoology. Mr. E. J. Court, of Washington City, con- 

 tributed a series of about 2,000 land shells from Maryland, Virginia, 

 and the District of Columbia. From Mr. H. W. Henshaw, of Hilo, 

 Hawaii, was received a very acceptable lot of about 600 Hawaiian land 

 shells, together with a number of other invertebrates. Mr. Dwight 

 Blaney presented some 300 shells dredged near Mount Desert, Maine, 

 and Mr. C. A. Davis a series of specimens, representing about 72 

 species, from Bermuda, including cotypes of several forms described 

 by the donor. The Museum received as a gift from Mr. H. N. Lowe 

 and Mrs. Blanche Trask, of California, some small lots of very accept- 

 able Californian shells, which were needed to fill gaps in the series. 



Several purchases of mollusks were made during the year in addi- 

 tion to the lot from the mountains of Venezuela referred to. Among 

 these should be mentioned a series of about' 2,500 Japanese land and 

 marine mollusks, representing 487 species; a large series of unusually 

 rare or beautiful land shells, comprising 252 species; a fine Vblttta 

 pulchra, and a large collection of land shells from the coast and islands 

 of California. The latter was obtained from Mr. Henry Hemphill, 

 and is commented on by Doctor Dall as follows: 



The series sent by Mr. Hemphill is nearly 50 per cent larger than was called for 

 by the agreement, and may to that extent be regarded as almost a donation. The 

 material comprises a thoroughly representative series showing the various mutations, 

 varieties, and species in which the coast is so rich, including the pleistocene forms 

 when they occur, and illustrating in a remarkable manner the flexibility of what have 

 been regarded as species. There were in all 649 lots of specimens, representing as 

 many distinct varieties or mutations. 



Lower invertebrates. — A collection of sea-urchins, chieify from the 

 Gulf of Siam and the Ingolf dredgings, was obtained by exchange 

 from the Zoological Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark. Dr. K. Kishi- 

 nouye presented 11 specimens of four species of Japanese precious 

 coral, showing the different varieties. Three of the specimens were 

 cotypes of forms described by Doctor Kishinouye. The National 

 Museum of Brazil presented cotypes of the shrimp JVephrops rubettus, 

 and of the stomatopod crustacean Pseudosquilla braziliensu. Mr. 

 H. N. Lowe, of Long Beach, California, presented a collection of 

 crustaceans from Catalina and San Clemente islands, among which 



