REPORT OP THE SECRETARY. 37 



a year, being detailed as a member of tbe scientific staff of that vessel. A 

 part of tbe collections obtained on tbis expedition, including over 100,000 speci- 

 mens of mollusks and otber groups of marine invertebrates, was transferred 

 directly to tbe Museum for working up. Doctor Bartscb was also enabled 

 to make some important collections of birds and reptiles. Tbe same bureau 

 likewise turned over to tbe Museum other important collections of marine 

 invertebrates and fishes, chiefly from explorations in various parts of the 

 Pacific Ocean. 



Among important gifts were about 1,200 European mammals presented by 

 Mr. Oldfield Thomas, of the British Museum, and Mr. Gerrit S. Miller, jr. ; 

 about 700 mammals and 200 birds collected in Borneo by Dr. W. L. Abbott; 

 about 600 specimens, mainly of invertebrate animals obtained in Labrador, by 

 Mr. Owen Bryant ; and a large collection of Peruvian reptiles, mollusks, crusta- 

 ceans, and sponges from the Peruvian Government. The large collection 

 of birds secured during the expedition of Mr. Robert Ridgway to Costa Rica 

 was received in the summer of 1908. Besides those mentioned above the prin- 

 cipal accessions of reptiles came from the Philippines and Panama, and of 

 fishes from New South Wales and Florida. 



The division of insects received over 32,000' specimens, including several 

 accessions of special value. Mr. William Schaus added to his previous note- 

 worthy donations about 16,000 specimens of Lepidoptera from Costa Rica and 

 other tropical countries. Mr. H. L. Viereck, of the Bureau of Entomology, and 

 Mr. J. C. Crawford, of the National Museum, presented their private collec- 

 tions of Hymenoptera, amounting to over 5,000 specimens in all. Lord Wal- 

 singham and Mr. P. D. Codman contributed many Central American species 

 described in tbe Biologia Centrali Americana. The balance of the accessions 

 consisted mainly of transfers from the Department of Agriculture, and repre- 

 sented many parts of the United States, 



The additions to the collections of mollusks and other marine invertebrates 

 were mainly derived from the explorations of the Bureau of Fisheries, as else- 

 where described. A notable gift from the Zoological Museum of Copenhagen, 

 Denmark, consisted of several hundred crabs from the Gulf of Siam, including 

 20 genera and 66 species new to the Museum. 



The herbarium received extensive collections, coming mostly from Mexico, 

 New Mexico, Oregon, and the Philippines. 



Department of Geology. — Nine series of rock specimens, the results of field 

 work in as many parts of the United States, were transferred by the Geological 

 • Survey. In invertebrate paleontology the more noteworthy additions were a 

 large series of Cambrian fossils from the Rocky Mountain region, resulting 

 from the explorations of Secretary Walcott during tbe summer of 190S ; a large 

 collection of Paleozoic fossils from the Appalachian Valley and central Ten- 

 nessee, made by the curator of the division ; and a collection of Tertiary fossils 

 from the Coalinga district, California, received from the Geological Survey. A 

 large amount of material from the Fort Union beds of Sweet Grass County, 

 Mont., representing many new and little known mammalian species, constituted 

 the principal accession in vertebrate paleontology. 



CARE AND PRESERVATION OF COLLECTIONS. 



The collections have been maintained in good condition notwithstanding the 

 overcrowding in all the divisions. Much of the routine work was planned with 

 the view of placing the collections in such shape as to permit of their removal 

 to the new building in systematic order, but the delay in the completion of 

 the building has made this part of the task especially difficult. With the assur- 



