34 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



the year by means of the specimens of marine animals collected by 

 Professor Baird as United States commissioner of fish 'and fisheries, and 

 his assistants and associates. Iu addition to the collections made on. 

 the coast of Maine, the Institution has received, through the commis- 

 sioner offish and fisheries, a valuable series of the salmon of the Penob- 

 scot River from Mr. Atkins; of the blue-backed trout of the Bangely 

 Lakes from Mr. Stanley; and lake-trout and land-locked salmon of the 

 Saint Croix from Senator Edmunds. Marine animals in great variety 

 aud of much interest were also collected for the fishery commission at 

 Fort Macon, North Carolina, by Dr. H. C. Yarrow, assistant surgeon of 

 the United States Army, supplemented by others from Dr. Mackie. 



The donations from the interior of the Atlantic coast States consisted 

 of Indian relics from Mr. Kellogg, of Connecticut; minerals and rocks 

 of South Carolina from Mr. Waldo; and various specimens of birds from 

 Florida from Mr. George A. Boardman. The trustees of the Charleston 

 College have been kind enough to lend to the Smithsonian Institution, 

 to be copied in plaster, several unique objects of ethnology. 



Proceeding to the regions south of the United States, we may men- 

 tion, first, contributions from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, furnished by. 

 Professor Sumichrast, these consisting of numerous birds and reptiles, 

 in continuation of similar collections previously transmitted. Mr. Flor 

 entin Sartorius, of Vera Cruz, also furnished specimens of the rare and 

 curious wax-producing insects first described as Lystra cerifera. 



From Guatemala have been received collections of insects, presented 

 by Mr. F. Sarg, and from Nicaragua a collection of rare pottery, by Dr. 

 Earl Flint. Certain collections made several years ago by Dr. Berendt 

 near Belize were received during the year, consisting principally of rep- 

 tiles and shells. As these were gathered at the expense of the several 

 contributors to a common fund, they were assigned for distribution to 

 Mr. Thomas Bland and Professor Cope. 



Of South American regions, New Granada is represented by a col- 

 lection of birds presented by the American minister at Bogota, Mr. 

 Hurlbut; Southern Brazil by the skeleton of a tapir from Mr. Albu- 

 querque; and Chili by a very valuable collection of native minerals 

 from the University of Santiago, through Professor Domeyko, and a 

 collection of Chilian eggs of great interest from the national museum, 

 through Dr. Philippi. 



Perhaps the most interesting South American object is a human head 

 prepared by the Jivaro Indians of the province of Chimborazo, Peru, 

 and presented to the Smithsonian Institution by Don Edward de Feiger, 

 through the honorable Eumsey Wing, United States minister to Ecua- 

 dor. This head belongs to a very rare series of ethnological objects, of 

 which a very few only have been brought to Europe and America. They 

 are held by their owners iu much veneration, and jealously guarded as 

 household divinities. They are believed to be trophies of victories; the 

 head of an enemy being thus prepared for permanent preservation. The 



