(74) 
REPORT OF THE HONORARY CURATOR OF 
THE ECONOMIC COLLECTIONS. 
Dr. N. L. Britron, DirecToR-IN-CHIEF, 
S?r: Ihave the honor to submit the following report for 
the year 1904. 
The collections under my charge have been increased by 
the addition of 200 specimens. This relatively small number 
of additions only partially represents the extension work of 
the year, since it so happens that much of our effort has been 
expended in arranging for additions which are expected to 
reach us during the year 1908. In two instances these 
arrangements are of such importance as to merit special 
mention at this time. 
The installation of the Merck collection of proximate plant 
principles, announced in my last report, was but temporary, 
our plan for its permanent arrangement contemplating the 
addition of the crude materials from which the proximate 
principles are extracted. Much of this crude material is ex- 
pensive and otherwise difficult to obtain. Its installation, 
moreover, would require a considerable expenditure for glass- 
ware, and some nine or ten additional cases, so that the 
execution of the plan was necessarily deferred. During the 
past year Messrs. Merck & Co. have very generously under- 
taken to complete their donation by contributing the entire 
collection of crude material desired, and together with it, the 
necessary bottles for its installation. Since sixteen new cases 
have been provided during the year, we are prepared to prop- 
erly place this collection immediately upon its arrival, which 
is expected during January of 1908. A list of our desiderata 
was prepared and submitted to Messrs. Merck & Co., and 
from this list the label printing has already been begun. 
During the past year, arrangements have been made with 
the leaders of a scientific expedition to the upper Rio Negro 
region, in Brazil, to make collections of economic materials 
for us. A list of our desiderata from that region was sup- 
