46 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1925 



ously mirepresented. In exchange for information there were ob- 

 tained from the American Museum of Natural History in New York 

 two lots of bird skins, one from Polynesia and one from Ecuador, in 

 which two genera, Nesophylax and Thylipha'ps, and about 27 species 

 were new to the Museum. 



Reptiles and hatrachians. — ^As in the other divisions of vertebrates, 

 the Chinese collections occupy the most prominent position, and in- 

 clude rich lots of material. The contribution of the National Geo- 

 graphic Society's expedition, under F. R, Wulsin, covered localities 

 as widely separated as Lake Kokonor in northeastern Tibet, and 

 southern Yunnan. The importance of this material is greatly 

 enhanced by the fact that much of it was collected in the deserts 

 of Mongolia along the first route of the Russian explorer. Colonel 

 Przevalski, so that these specimens are to a great extent topotypes of 

 species described by Guenther and Bedriaga. Eev. D. C. Graham's 

 specimens likewise add many species new to the Museum, among 

 them the curious toad Aelurophryne Tnammata. A. deC. Sowerby's 

 collections from eastern China, secured through Col. E,. S. Clark, 

 make possible a more critical study of certain species, because of the 

 ample series supplied. Closely connected in interest are 108 speci- 

 mens collected and presented by Dr. Hugh M. Smith in Siam, related 

 as many of them are to Chinese species ; several species among these 

 are new to the collection. Dr. M. M. Metcalf presented to the 

 Museum 191 frogs and tadpoles from Ceylon, among which likewise 

 were several species not previously in the institution. The collec- 

 tion brought back by G. S. Miller from his trip to Haiti are of par- 

 ticular interest, as Miss D. Cochran, aid in the division of reptiles, 

 has in preparation a comprehensive work on the herpetology of the 

 island. 



Fishes. — ^More than 1,000 specimens were received from China, 

 through the expeditions of the National Geographic Society, under 

 F. R. Wulsin, through collections made by D. C. Graham and A. 

 deC. Sowerby (through Col. R. S. Clark) as detailed elsewhere, and 

 a small collection from the Chinese island of Hainan donated by 

 Professor Ping, of Nanking, A very important collection of 441 

 specimens of fishes from the Amazon basin, South America, was 

 presented by the H. K. Mulford Co., of Philadelphia, through Dr. 

 C. H. Eigenmann. An extensive series from Salvador, Central 

 America, consisting of 2,150 specimens, collected by S. F. Hilde- 

 brand and F. J. Foster, was transferred to the Museum by the. 

 Bureau of Fisheries of the United States Department of Commerce. 

 From this same bureau came also five type specimens of Salmonid 

 fishes from Lake Michigan and Green Lake, "Wis. 



Insects. — Reference has already been made to the more than 

 50,000 coleoptera representing 16,000 species bequeathed to the Mu- 



