6 REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1924 



enriched from tropical America by the explorations of Dr. A. S. 

 Hitchcock in Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, of Paul C. 

 Standley in the Canal Zone and Costa Rica, and of Dr. William R. 

 Maxon in Panama, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. 



The geological additions were unusual in number and in value 

 for both exhibition and study. The paleontological collections were 

 the chief beneficiaries, the most noteworthy of the accessions being 

 the material for a skeletal mount of a large dinosaur from the 

 Dinosaur National Monument, Utah — exceeding in exhibition value 

 any geological acquisition of recent years — and the Edgar E. Teller 

 and the George M. Austin collections of fossils. The former col- 

 lection, comprising over 100,000 Paleozoic fossils, was the gift of 

 Mrs. Teller in memory of her husband ; the latter collection of over 

 25,000 early Silurian invertebrate fossils from Clinton County, 

 Ohio, represented the life work in that field of Dr. George M. 

 Austin, the donor. The economic collections were increased by 

 Canadian nickel and silver ores acquired through Frank L. Hess, 

 custodian of rare metals and rare earths, and by copper-nickel-silver 

 ores donated by the Royal Ontario Museum of Mineralogy. Dia- 

 mond-bearing rocks received through the assistance of H. D. Miser 

 made possible a more comprehensive exhibit of the occurrence of 

 the diamond than heretofore shown. Good exhibition material, both 

 economic and mineral, resulted from the continued activities of 

 Victor C. Heikes. 



An unusual meteoric iron from San Juan County, N. Mex., 

 formed the most interesting accession to the meteorite collection, 

 although an iron from Chile, a stone from Kansas, and small quan- 

 tities of other individuals from Spain and Australia added new 

 falls and finds. 



Col. Washington A. Roebling was the chief contributor to the 

 mineral collections ; besides donating material, he supplied funds for 

 the purchase of new minerals. Radium-bearing minerals from the 

 Belgian Congo and a number of rare species new to the collections, 

 received as gifts and exchanges, are also worthy of note. A number 

 of cut gems were added to the Isaac Lea collection through pur- 

 chases from the Frances Lea Chamberlain fund. The study collec- 

 tion in mineralogy is reported now as over 80 per cent complete as 

 to species represented. 



A petrographic reference series of rocks numbering some 2,000 

 specimens, thought to be without doubt the most important collec- 

 tion from a scientific standpoint now in existence, was transferred 

 to the Museum by the United States Geological Survey. 



Collections of Cambrian, Ordovician, and Silurian invertebrates 

 were made by Secretary Walcott and members of the staff of the 



