REPORT ON THE DEPARTxMENT OF MARINE INVERTEBRATES IN THE 

 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888. 



By EiCHARD Kathbun, Honorary Curator. 



During- the past year the curator has been able to give less attention 

 than usual to the afSairs of this department in consequence of his in- 

 creased duties in connection with the Fish Commission. The repairs 

 in progress during most of tlie year at the western end of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, where all the si)ecimeus under his charge are stored, 

 have also tended to interfere with tbe work upon collections, and ne- 

 cessitated the closing of the exhibition hall to the public. The acces- 

 sions have been fewer in number, and the quantity of material received 

 has been much less than for several years past. This was due in large 

 part to the fact that comparatively few explorations were made by the 

 Fish Commission during the spring and summer, and that since the re- 

 organization of the latter bureau in the winter the collections of marine 

 invertebrates made by the field parties have been retained by the com- 

 mission pending their examination and description. The current work 

 of the department has, however, been kept up and the collections have 

 been maintained in good condition but no attempt was made to enlarge 

 the exhibition series, although we now have the means of greatly im- 

 proving its character and appearance through recent accessions to the 

 department. 



While giving almost all his time to the business of the Fish Com- 

 mission, by retaining his office and work rooms at the Museum, the cura- 

 tor has found it possible to exercise general supervision over the col- 

 lections in his care. His investigations, however, have related chiefly 

 to subjects having a more or less direct bearing upon the practical 

 problems before the Commission, and have had little reference to the 

 Museum collections. There is, consequently, but slight progress to 

 report, either in the classification of specimens and the enlargement of 

 the study series or in the selection of duplicates for exchange. Prof. 

 A. E. Verrill has continued to administer upon the Fish Commission 

 collections at Tale College, which are in the custody of the Museum. 



Very extensive and important natural history results were accom- 

 plished by the Fish Commission during the year, especially on the voy- 

 age of the steamer Albatross from Norfolk, Virginia, to San Francisco, 



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