﻿H/vYDEN.l 
  LETTEE 
  TO 
  THE 
  SECRETAEY. 
  25 
  

  

  monograph, 
  and 
  cannot 
  be 
  otherwise 
  than 
  an 
  acceptable 
  and 
  timely 
  con- 
  

   tribution 
  to 
  Indian 
  philology 
  to 
  scholars 
  all 
  over 
  the 
  world. 
  Other 
  con- 
  

   tributions 
  will 
  follow 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  time 
  as 
  they 
  can 
  be 
  prepared. 
  A 
  

   biographical 
  and 
  historical 
  catalogue 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  prominent 
  Indians 
  

   of 
  about 
  seventy 
  -five 
  different 
  tribes, 
  prepared 
  by 
  W. 
  H, 
  Jackson, 
  

   will 
  be 
  published 
  during 
  the 
  present 
  year. 
  

  

  Zoology 
  has 
  always 
  been 
  recognized 
  by 
  the 
  Survey 
  as 
  not 
  only 
  a 
  legit- 
  

   imate 
  and 
  proper, 
  but 
  also 
  very 
  important 
  and 
  practically 
  valuable 
  col- 
  

   lateral 
  department 
  of 
  scientific 
  research, 
  the 
  relations 
  of 
  which 
  to 
  geology 
  

   and 
  geography 
  are 
  natural 
  and 
  intimate. 
  In 
  conducting 
  the 
  Survey, 
  

   from 
  the 
  very 
  beginning, 
  the 
  services 
  of 
  zoologists 
  have 
  been 
  engaged 
  

   both 
  in 
  the 
  practical 
  work 
  of 
  the 
  field 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  technical 
  researches 
  of 
  

   the 
  museum 
  and 
  the 
  library. 
  Among 
  the 
  collaborators 
  in 
  this 
  depart- 
  

   ment 
  are 
  included 
  not 
  a 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  eminent 
  zoologists 
  of 
  America, 
  

   the 
  constant 
  object 
  being 
  to 
  secure 
  the 
  services 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  accomplished 
  

   specialists 
  in 
  each 
  particular 
  branch 
  of 
  zoology. 
  The 
  results 
  of 
  this 
  pol- 
  

   icy 
  are 
  witnessed, 
  not 
  only 
  in 
  the 
  yearly 
  accessions 
  of 
  fresh 
  material 
  in 
  

   the 
  way 
  of 
  specimens, 
  but 
  in 
  the 
  numerous 
  zoological 
  publications 
  of 
  

   the 
  Survey. 
  

  

  The 
  Annual 
  Eeports 
  contain 
  various 
  papers 
  on 
  zoology, 
  by 
  gentlemen 
  

   ofScially 
  connected 
  with 
  the 
  Survey. 
  The 
  Bulletins 
  are 
  still 
  richer 
  in 
  

   this 
  department, 
  containing 
  numerous 
  papers 
  by 
  such 
  distinguished 
  nat- 
  

   uralists 
  as 
  Packard, 
  Coues, 
  Eidgway, 
  Allen, 
  Scudder, 
  Osten 
  Sacken, 
  

   Uhler, 
  Hagen, 
  and 
  others 
  no 
  less 
  eminent 
  in 
  their 
  specialties. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  

   miscellaneous 
  publications 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Elliott 
  Coues, 
  U. 
  S. 
  A., 
  on 
  the 
  Orni- 
  

   thology 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri 
  Eegion, 
  is 
  a 
  closely 
  printed 
  octavo 
  of 
  800 
  pages, 
  

   which 
  is 
  based 
  primarily 
  on 
  the 
  collections 
  of 
  the 
  Survey, 
  and 
  constitutes 
  

   a 
  formal 
  and 
  authoritative 
  treatise 
  on 
  a 
  majority 
  of 
  the 
  birds 
  of 
  North 
  

   America. 
  In 
  the 
  magnificent 
  series 
  of 
  quarto 
  publications, 
  or 
  " 
  Mono- 
  

   graphs 
  ", 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  original 
  and 
  exhaustive 
  researches 
  are 
  

   published, 
  zoology 
  again 
  receives 
  due 
  attention. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  volumes 
  

   contains 
  Thomas's 
  revision 
  of 
  the 
  Acrididw, 
  or 
  Grasshoppers, 
  a 
  most 
  im- 
  

   portant 
  and 
  timely 
  contribution. 
  And 
  here 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  remarked 
  that 
  if 
  

   the 
  " 
  grasshopper 
  problem 
  " 
  be 
  solvable, 
  we 
  are 
  likely 
  to 
  have 
  the 
  matter 
  

   settled 
  by 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  Entomological 
  Commission, 
  and 
  all 
  availa- 
  

   ble 
  scientific 
  knowledge 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  brought 
  to 
  bear 
  upon 
  this 
  question 
  of 
  

   vital 
  national 
  importance. 
  Another 
  volume 
  of 
  the 
  series 
  consists 
  of 
  

   Packard's 
  splendid 
  monograph 
  of 
  the 
  Geometrid 
  Moths, 
  which 
  has 
  re- 
  

   ceived 
  the 
  highest 
  possible 
  commendation 
  from 
  all 
  quarters. 
  A 
  third 
  

   will 
  consist 
  of 
  Coues's 
  and 
  Allen's 
  Monographs 
  of 
  the 
  North 
  American 
  

   Eodentia, 
  the 
  largest 
  order 
  of 
  mammals, 
  and 
  one 
  sustaining 
  the 
  most 
  im- 
  

   portant 
  economic 
  relations 
  with 
  the 
  agricultural 
  interests 
  of 
  the 
  nation. 
  

  

  In 
  thus 
  glancing 
  at 
  the 
  zoological 
  work 
  accomplished 
  by 
  the 
  Survey, 
  

   we 
  do 
  not 
  include 
  work 
  done 
  in 
  fossil 
  zoology, 
  or 
  palaeontology, 
  since 
  this 
  

   comes 
  more 
  distinctively 
  within 
  the 
  field 
  of 
  geology 
  itself. 
  But 
  to 
  the 
  

   study 
  of 
  the 
  extinct 
  faunas 
  and 
  floras 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  have 
  been 
  applied 
  

  

  