REPORT OF NATIONAL. MUSEUM, 1924 71 



New Museum, Buffalo, N. Y., for examination, and foraminifera to 

 Dr. J. A. Cushman, Sharon, Mass., also for examination. 



Plants loaned to institutions or individual investigators outside of 

 Washington aggregated 3,987, comprised in 65 lot's, a considerable 

 increase of the previous year. Of these the following deserve special 

 mention : 188 specimens of Orchidaceae lent to Oakes Ames, Boston, 

 Mass., in connection with his monographic study of the orchids of 

 tropical America; 223 specimens of Rubus and Bihes, lent to the 

 New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, N. Y., 

 for study by Alwin Berger in connection with his investigation of 

 small horticultural fruits; 149 specimens, chiefly Eupatoriae and 

 Boraginaceae, lent to the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University 

 for study by Dr. B. L. Kobinson and Ivan M. Johnston, respec- 

 tively ; 313 specimens of Piperaeeae lent to the University of Illinois, 

 Urbana, 111., for use by Prof. William Trelease, who is engaged in a 

 monographic study of this family; 704 specimens of sedges (Garex) - 

 lent to Kenneth K. Mackenzie, Maple wood, N. J., who is continuing 

 his monographic study of this genus as represented in North Amer- 

 ica; and 1,890 specimens of Senecio and Men^thaceae, lent to the 

 Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Mo., for study by Dr. J. M. 

 Greenman and Carl Epling. 



DISTRIBUTION AND EXCHANGE OF SPECIMENS 



Duplicates distributed to high schools, colleges, institutions, etc., 

 aggregated 4,194 specimens, of which 2,086 consisted of mollusks in 

 14 prepared sets, and 800 fishes in 9 sets. 



Exchanges to the number of 14,526 were sent out, of which 2,737 

 were zoological specimens supplied by nearly all the divisions. Of 

 the 11,789 plants thus distributed, exchanges of 1,000 specimens and 

 over were sen,t to Field Museum of Natural History, New York 

 Botanical Garden, and the Academy of Natural Sciences, Phila- 

 delphia. 



TOTAL NUMBER OF SPECIMENS IN DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY, INCLUDING DUPLICATE 



SPECIMENS , 



The figures given below do not represent an actual count which 

 in some divisions at least it would be a physical impossibility to ac- 

 complish at the present time. They are mostly based on an earlier 

 estimate by adding the yearly increment and deducting the speci- 

 mens which have been disposed of by gift or exchange, or which have 

 dropped out of the collection for other causes. In the division of 

 mammals an actual count was undertaken in 1922 which showed that 

 the actual number was slightly in excess of the estimates, so that 



