190 KEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888. 



placed at the disposal of the department, and the work of selecting and 

 placing the material on exhibition was immediately commenced. The 

 plan of the exhibition is to illustrate, as fully as the specimens at our 

 disposal will allow, the evolution of the vegetable kingdom. It begins 

 with the lowest forms, which are regarded as Algce, such as Arthro[)hy- 

 cus, Bythrotrepis, Chondrites, etc. The next class in the systematic 

 scale is the Fungi, which are very rare in a fossil state, although a few 

 species are known. The Mosses and Hepatme, which come next, are 

 also very uncommon in a fossil state. Of the ferns hundreds of species 

 are known and a very instructive series has been arranged, principally 

 from the American Coal Measures. From the ferns the series passes 

 through Galamariece, which includes Equisetum, Calamites, and Annu- 

 laria; the Lycopodiacew, including Lycopodium, Lepidodendron, Sigil- 

 laria, and Stigmaria to the Gymnosperms. 



The Gymnosperms, beginning with the Cycads, pass through the Cal- 

 amodendrese, Cordaitese, and Dolerophyllese to the true Gonifers, of 

 which there are more than fifty fossil genera known. An ever increas- 

 ing diversity of vegetable forms brings us to the Monocotyledons and 

 eventually to the Dicotyledons, of which division thousands of species 

 are known to science. 



In connection with the actual specimens it is proposed to exhibit res- 

 torations selected from well-known authorities, such as Cordaites, by 

 Grand'Eury; Lepidodendron, by Dawson, Lesquereux, and others. 



In another series it is proposed to show the characteristic vegetation 

 of each geological period, beginning with the lowest, and in immediate 

 connection with these will be shown photographs from Unger, Heer, 

 and others, showing at a glance the characteristic vegetation of each 

 period. 



PRESENT STATE OF THE COLLECTION. 



Total number of specimens of catalogued material. 8,243 



Number of specimens not specifically identified (mostly wood) 1, 757 



Determined material 6,486 



Duplicates stored in armory 1,091 



Number of distinct species identified, catalogued, and installed 1,317 



Of which there are — 



Paleozoic 420 



Mesozoic 211 



Cenozoic „_ 686 



The last catalogue number, JuDe30, 1887, was 249 



The last catalogue number, June 30, 1888, was 268 



