REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 9 



The party remained in the field nearly a year, having sailed from 

 New York for Mombasa on February 18, 1911, and dispersing about 

 February 15, 1912, at Nairobi. 



The territory traversed was mostly to the north and east of that 

 covered by the Smithsonian expedition, and included the country 

 lying between the northern part of British East Africa and southern 

 Abyssinia. 



, FRICK AFRICAN EXPEDITION. 



A further natural-history expedition to Africa was that of Mr. 

 Childs Frick, of New York, whose object was to secure a collection 

 of animals from the territory lying to the north of the regions visited 

 by Col. Roosevelt and Mr. Rainey, covering at the same time certain 

 parts of Abyssinia, northern British East Africa, and the country 

 lying about Lake Rudolf. As naturalist of this party, Dr. Edgar A. 

 Mearns, of the Smithsonian African expedition, was chosen. A por- 

 tion of the collection of birds is to be donated to the Smithsonian 

 Institution by Mr. Frick, and already several hundred specimens 

 have been received. 



BIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE PANAMA CANAL ZONE. 



As mentioned in my last report, the Institution organized in 1910 

 a biological survey of the Panama Canal Zone, with the cooperation 

 of the Departments of State, Agriculture, Commerce and Labor, and 

 War. At first it was intended to confine the collections to the Canal 

 Zone proper, but as the faunal and floral areas extended to the north 

 and south of this region, it was decided to carry the work into the 

 Republic of Panama, a step which met with the hearty approval of 

 that Republic. The work accomplished has been very valuable to 

 science, including collections and observations of vertebrate animals, 

 land and fresh water mollusks, and plants, including flowering plants, 

 grasses, and ferns. 



During the past year the botanists have continued their studies, 

 and collections have been made of fishes, reptiles, and amphibians, 

 birds, and mammals, and special studies and collections have been 

 made of the microscopic plant and animal life of the fresh waters of 

 the zone. 



As can readily be imagined, the life areas on the zone will become 

 confused as soon as the canal is opened and the waters of the Pacific 

 and Atlantic watersheds are intermingled. It is particularly im- 

 portant on that account that the present geographical distribution 

 of animals and plants be recorded prior to that time, and this is 

 especially true as regards the life of the fresh waters and the sea- 

 coasts. 



