REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 85 



cotypes of species of spiders were th% gift of Mr. Theodore Scheffer, 

 of Manhattan, Kansas. 



Among the purchases of the year were three important lots of South 

 American insects, including one from Paraguay and one from Vene- 

 zuela; also a miscellaneous collection from Australia. 



The U. S. Department of Agriculture transmitted two lots of mis- 

 cellaneous insects comprising 6,054 specimens, of which 4,500 were 

 collected by Mr. E. A. Schwarz in Cuba. 



Plants. — The accessions to the National Herbarium during the year 

 numbered 555, which is considerably above the average for the last 

 thirteen years, though somewhat exceeded last year. The specimens 

 numbered 43,800, or about 9,000 more than last year. The deposit of 

 Professor Greene's herbarium and the large accession from Mrs. T. A. 

 Williams have already been mentioned (pp. 7i», SO). Following these 

 should probably be placed the accessions from the Philippine insular 

 bureau of agriculture, Manila, which aggregate 3,360 specimens. 

 .These were received in exchange. Other important exchanges with 

 the New York Botanical Garden, resulting in the acquisition of 1,317 

 specimens, were effected during the year. These were from Jamaica 

 and other islands of the West Indies, and from Colorado. By exchange 

 with the Ro3 r al Botanical Gardens, Kew, London, 278 plants from 

 Europe, India, and other Old World regions were obtained. Mr. C. V. 

 Piper, of Pullman, Washington, presented 658 plants from that State. 

 An interesting collection from Mexico, comprising 139 specimens, 

 was presented b}^ Mr. E. W. D. Holway, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

 Mr. William Palmer, of the Museum staff, collected 328 plants in 

 Newfoundland while engaged in making molds of a whale at the 

 Balena whaling station. 



About 10,000 plants were purchased from outside the United States. 

 The series acquired in this manner were 773 specimens from Australia, 

 1,606 specimens from Mexico, 471 from Nicaragua, and 109 from Costa 

 Rica. Important purchases of plants of the United States were as 

 follows: Utah, Wyoming, and Nevada, 1,402; California, 1,269; Vir- 

 ginia, 325; Texas and Arkansas, 280; Florida, 212; Oregon, 201. 



The national herbarium received from the Department of Agricul- 

 ture 68 accessions, comprising 1,870 specimens, among which the most 

 important were the collections made in Texas by Mr. Arthur Howell 

 (74 specimens), by Mr. Fred G. Plummer in New Mexico and Okla- 

 homa (97 specimens), and by Mr. Vernon Bailey, also in New Mexico 

 (165 specimens). 



The plants transmitted by the Bureau of Fisheries have been men- 

 tioned (see p. 80). They comprise 461 specimens collected in Alaska 

 and Oregon b}^ Messrs. Gilbert, Evermann, Chamberlain, and others. 



