38 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



occupants of the boat promptly severed with ail ax, and the portions thus 

 secured were brought into port. Oue of these pieces of an arm meas- 

 ured 18 feet in length, and it was estimated that an equal length 

 remained attached to the body. An entire animal was afterward taken 

 in a net, with arms about 30 feet in length. Another of a similar size was 

 thrown upon the shore, near Harbor Grace in the winter of 1872-'73, the 

 beak and suckers of which were forwarded to the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion. 



The collections from Mexico received during the year have continued 

 to be of much importance, especially such as are covered by the contri- 

 butions of Professor Sumichrast, who is a resident of the Isthmus of Te- 

 huautepec, and has been for many years a valued correspondent of the 

 Smithsonian Institution. From this gentleman we have received large 

 numbers of birds, mammals, and reptiles, the object of most interest 

 being the skeleton of the Mexican tapir, an animal until recently but 

 very little known. 



From Guatemala an interesting addition consists of a specimen of 

 'the ocellated turkey, presented by Mr. Sarg, being a species of great 

 rarity, and very much superior in beauty to the wild turkey of North 

 America. 



A very noteworthy addition to the collection of the Institution was re- 

 ceived from Prof. William M. Gabb, who has been engaged in exploring 

 certain regions of Costa Eica, in the service of that government and of 

 the Costa Rica Railway. This contribution contains many specimens 

 illustrative of the habits and manners of the native tribes of Costa 

 Rica, with a large collection of the birds, mammals, reptiles, fishes, &c, 

 the whole forming a very full representation of the zoology and ethnol- 

 ogy of that country. 



Additional contributions, in the way of specimens of the natural his- 

 tory of the United States of Colombia, have been received from Gen. 

 Stephen A. Hurlbut, late United States minister to that country, and 

 from his son, Mr. George H. Hurlbut. To these gentlemen the National 

 Museum previously owed the contribution of a skeleton of the tapir of 

 the Andes, a species till then known only by a skull in the Paris Mu- 

 seum. The more recent donations consist of birds in great variety, and 

 other objects. 



Several collections have been received from more southern portions 

 of South America, among them an interesting contribution of Peruvian 

 antiquities, presented by Mr. W. W. Evans, and a stuffed specimen of 

 the tapir of the Andes, from President Moreno, of Ecuador. 



From the West Indies an important contribution consists in skeletons 

 and alcoholic specimens of the fish of Cuba, presented by Prof. F. Poey, 

 of Havana. Professor Poey is an eminent naturalist, whose writings 

 upon the fishes of the West Indies are standard authority, and he has 

 kindly undertaken to supply to the National Museum a complete series 

 of Cuban fishes, properly named, to correspond with his own publica- 



