DEPARTMENT OF LITHOLOGY AND PHYSICAL GEOLOGY. 207 



(28) On accession 20520, received from F. G. King, Clifton Springs, New York. 



(29) On accession 20542, received from Mr. Josiah Einker, Gaine8borough,Virginia. 



(30) On accession 20536, received from Mr. J. W. Worth, Stockton, Virginia. 



(31) On accession 20.599, received from Mr. George W. Watkins, Moriaii, New York. 



(32) On accession 20675, received from L. Corriue, New Hurley, Ulster County, New 



York. 



Particular attention has been paid during the year to the strati- 

 graphic, structural, and dynamical geology exhibition series, and many 

 important additions have been made ; among them I may mention the 

 proportional column of the stratified rock formations of New Hamj)- 

 shire ; the fine examples of veins, contortions, crushing and faulting, 

 as well as the series showing contact metamorphism, and the very beau- 

 tiful and instructive series of rocks from Montville, New Jersey, show- 

 ing the derivation of serpentine from pyroxene by the process of meta- 

 somatosis. Those portions of the collection showing the constructive 

 and destructive effects of plant and animal life have also made some 

 progress. The latter collection is supplemented by a collection illus- 

 trative of the formation of a coral island, Bermuda being taken as an 

 example. This begins with the more common tpyes of corals and shells 

 from the neighboring waters, followed by the loose fragmental material 

 derived from them, and which, when mixed with more or less carbon- 

 aceous and ferruginous matter, forms the characteristic soil of the island. 

 These in turn are followed by the common limestone, made up from 

 these compacted fragments, and these again by the stalagmitic and 

 stalactitic coarsely crystalline secondary rocks formed by the solution 

 and recrystallization of the fragmental materials. The series closes 

 with a small collection of rocks foreign to the island, and which have 

 been drifted thence, presumably entangled in the roots of trees, and 

 cast upon the beaches. 



In the prosecution of the work as above outlined I have received as- 

 sistance as follows : 



From July 1 to July 8, Mr. E. Kirby Smith j from July 15 to 18, Miss 

 Carrie Rosenbusch ; from July 13 to September 7, Mr. Hudson (draughts- 

 man); from September 26 to January 15, 1888, Mr. F. L. Fuller; from 

 January 19 to February 8, Mr. L. H. Merrill ; from March 12 to the 

 close of the fiscal year, Mr. William B. Merriman. Mr. Forney, stone- 

 cutter, has continued with the department for the greater part of the 

 year. The short term of service of all but one of the above rendered 

 their assistance of much less value than it might otherwise have been. 

 Indeed, in the majority of cases, the proper order was reversed, and the 

 curator served as assistant while endeavoring to instruct the intended 

 assistant in the duties of his office. This condition of affairs, while un- 

 doubtedly unavoidable for the present, must necessarily react more or 

 less disastrously upon the department. 



Aside from the study necessarily given to materials incident to their 

 proper identification and installation, special attention has been given 

 to the peridotite from Little Deer Isle on the coast of Maine ; a new 



