APPENDIX TO SECRETARY'S REPORT. 



Appendix I. 

 THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Sir : The following statement constitutes a resume of the most important opera- 

 tions of the National Museum during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1897 : 



Accessions. — The records show the receipt of 1,467 separate accesGions. These 

 figures indicate an excess of 168 lots over the receipts of the previous year. The 

 number of specimens embraced in these accessions is nearly 112,000, representing an 

 increase of more than 50 per cent over last year. The following accessions are 

 among the most interesting : 



Of the zoological material, mention should first be made of two exceedingly valu- 

 able and interesting collections from Trong, Lower Siam, i^reseuted by Dr. W. L. 

 Abbott. This material is of unusual interest, the insects and shells representing 

 many species new to the Museum collection. The specimens were received in a very 

 satisfactory condition. Mr. A. Boucard, Spring Vale, Isle of Wight, England, trans- 

 mitted a specimen of the rare mound fowl, Leipoa ocellaia, from Australia. Dr. L. T. 

 Chamberlain, New York City, presented shells from Central America and the West 

 Indies, and specimens of tourmaline from Paris, Me. From Cornell University, 

 Ithaca, N. Y., invertebrates collected by the Cornell Expedition to Greenland in 1896 

 were transmitted by Prof. J. H. Comstock. Mr. D. W. Coquillett, United States 

 Department of Agriculture, sent 860 specimens of beetles of the family Tachinidse, 

 including type specimens. From Hon. W. B. Brownlow, Member of Congress, have 

 been received, on dejiosit, birds' skins and other natural-history specimens from 

 British Honduras. Mr. J. G. Foetterle, Petropolis, Brazil, presented 172 specimens of 

 Brazilian Lepidoptera, representing 115 species. Mr. S. Nozawa, Sapporo, Japan, 

 sent a collection of reptiles, batrachians, and fishes obtained at Yesso Island. A very 

 interesting collection of beetles collected in the Kongo region was received from 

 Dr. D. W. Snyder, Nashville, Tenn. Dr. W. L. Ralph, Utica, N. Y., presented birds' 

 skins from the western section of the United States. Zoological material repre- 

 senting several groups was collected by Prof. O. F. Cook during a trip to Liberia. 

 A collection of land and fresh-water shells was transmitted by the Perak Museum, 

 Straits Settlements. 



Among the most important additions to the herbarium are included a series of 

 i,000 plants, representing the private collection of Dr. W. H. Forwood, U. S. A., 

 Soldiers' Home, Washington, D. C. ; 432 herbarium specimens, also from Dr. Forwood ; 

 500 specimens from the Biltmore Herbarium, Biltmore, N. C. ; a collection of plants 

 obtained by Prof. O. F. Cook, of the National Museum, while in Africa, and a collec- 

 tion of Spanish plants presented by Mrs. Cook. 



A number of microscopic sections from the collection of the Fortieth Parallel Sur- 

 vey were transmitted from the United States Geological Snrvey by Mr. Arnold 

 Hague. 



Mr. R. D. Lacoe, Pittston, Pa., forwarded 208 specimens of tertiary plants from 

 Florissant, Colo., for addition to the Lacoe collection. Dr. C. E. Beecher, Yale 

 Museum, New Haven, Conn., presented a fine series of fossils, models of Triarthrus 

 hecki, a species of crustacean, and a model of a trilobite with appendage. 



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