90 REPORT OF THE ACTING SECRETARY. 



(b) a plaster cast of the Bacnbii-ito meteorite in ?kIexieo. another remarkably 

 large piece of nickel-iron; (c) a plaster cast of the Ainsa-Irwin, or Tucson 

 (Arizona) meteorite, in the form of a ring of iron, the original of which is in 

 the National Museum; (d) a map showing the location of known meteorite 

 falls in the United States; (e) pictures of falling meteorites, or "shooting 

 stars," and photographs showing the internal structure of stony, iron, and 

 stony-iron meteorites. 



3. Representations of some interesting fossil vertebrates of North America, 

 which comprised: (a) Life-sized restoration of the armored dinosaur. Stego- 

 saurus ungulatus, showing the supposed external appearance of the animal, 

 based on remains in the National Museum; (b) natural-sized restoration of the 

 skeleton of the three-horned dinosaur, Triceratops pororsus. from the origi- 

 nal in the National Museum. On the wall was hung an oil painting repre- 

 senting the external appearance of this great i-eptile in its native surroundings ; 



(c) pictures showing skeletons or restorations of other dinosaurs, of an 

 icthyosaur, of a pterydactyle (or tiying reptile), and of an extinct toothed 

 diving bird. 



III. Department uf Bioloyy. 



This department, situated at the east end of the Smithsonian space, showed : 



1. A nearly complete skeleton of the dodo, Didus ineptus, an extinct flight- 

 less bird of the island of Mauritius. A few living birds were brought to Hol- 

 land in the sixteenth century, and from these at least four different pictures 

 were painted by various artists. One of the best of these, a life-sized profile, 

 is in the British Museum, and an exact reproduction of it was hung near the 

 skeleton. 



2. A complete skeleton (made up from bones of many individuals) of the 

 great auk, Plautus impennis. A cast of its egg and a natural-sized photo- 

 graph of the mounted specimen in the National Museum were also exhibited. 



3. A collection of birds' eggs from all parts of the world, including eggs of 

 common birds, bright-colored eggs, eggs of the humming-bird, the smallest, and 

 a cast of the largest egg known, that of the JEpyornis, an extinct bird of 

 Madagascar. 



4. A series of bright-colored pheasants of the Old World, together with a 

 pair each of three species of peacocks. 



5. A mounted American alligator and an American crocodile, placed opposite 

 one another in order to show clearly the differences between these two largest 

 existing American reptiles. 



6. A group of large game animals of Europe. Asia, and Africa : Chamois, 

 Norway elk, moufflon, Manchurian tiger, Marco Pouo sheep, axis deer, Sambur 

 stag, lion, and rhinoceros. In addition to these, mounted heads of the nilghi, 

 greater and lesser kudus, Jackson's hartebeeste, beisa antelope, and ibex, and 

 antlers of the American elk and caribou were hung on the walls. 



7. At various places on the walls of the Smithsonian exhibit-space were placed 

 plates taken from Audubon's work on North American birds, among them one 

 of the great auk. Another series of pictures comprised photographs showing the 

 making of a cast of a sulphur bottom whale at Balena Station, Newfoundland. 



8. Suspended over the center of the Smithsonian space was a skeleton oJ' 

 an adult little piked whale, Balcenoptera acuto-rustrata. 



Dr. F. W. True was representative for the Smithsonian Institution and 

 National Museum on the Government board. Dr. M. W. Lyon, jr., was chief 

 special agent. 



