56 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Considerable work has been done on the collections of Mollusca 

 with the end in view of making them accessible. This work in- 

 cludes the making of a card catalogue, as the museum possesses 

 much molluscan material, including the very valuable Gould col- 

 lection of types, and it is very desirable that this be so arranged 

 and indexed as to become available to those interested' in the 

 subject. 



Monograph of the Mollusca. A very wide public interest exists 

 in the terrestrial, fresh-water and marine mo Husks and to meet 

 demands for exact information as well as to bring our acquaint- 

 ance with the New York molluscan fauna up to present standards, 

 a monograph of this group was inaugurated a few years ago. Prog- 

 ress on this work was made, though slow, and at the present time 

 it is in charge of Dr H. A. Pilsbry of the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences, Philadelphia, a leading authority on the Mollusca. 



Dr Pilsbry's work thus far has been directed almost entirely 

 to certain groups of small or minute forms upon which nothing 

 had been done at the time the monograph was placed in his hands, 

 either in manuscript or illustration, viz, the Pupillidae, the Zoni- 

 tidae, the smaller Endodontidae, the genus Strobilops, the Val- 

 lonudae and Cochlicopidae. The work on these groups is practi- 

 cally completed except for the subject of distribution. It is 

 hoped that by collections and correspondence, substantial additions 

 to the New York records of many species may be made, and some 

 additional species may be found in the State. Several species not 

 hitherto reported from New York have already turned up in the 

 material examined. 



Considerable work has been done in tabulating existing records, 

 with the view of ascertaining what districts in the State have not 

 been closely examined for recent mollusks. 



In appropriate connection with this work on the Mollusca a 

 preliminary investigation has been undertaken of the occurrences 

 of pearls in our streams and lakes and a general inquiry into the 

 possibilities of the development of this interest and expansion 

 of the pearl shell industry. The presence of pearls in our waters 

 is less a matter of record than, at least so far as recent occurrences 

 are concerned, of report and news. Their discovery, however, is 

 ancient. The fresh-water clams which are known as the Unios, 

 Anodontas etc. occur very freely in all our lime-bearing waters 

 and it is well known that these mollusks were used for food by 

 the aborigines, as witnessed by the shell heaps which have been 



