REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 25 



among the latter a specimen of Elaps distans,,_a_ serpent previously un- 

 known excepting in Arizona. 



From Newfoundland we have had a series of stuffed skins of several 

 species of seals of different ages. 



From Mexico a collection of reptiles and fishes. 



From Cuba a continuation of the complete series of species of fish, 

 which the Institution has received from its correspondents on that 

 island. 



Central America, as usual, has furnished very important collections, 

 among them birds and reptiles from the isthmus of Tehuantepeo; speci- 

 mens of the musical instruments of the aborigines of Guatemala; poison- 

 ous serpents of Nicaragua, and, above all, a series of mammals, birds, 

 reptiles, fishes, shells, insects, and ethnology from Costa Rica. 



South America. — The receipts from this part of the western hemi- 

 sphere have not been very large, consisting principally of some casts of 

 stone implements from ancient mines in Chili, and ethnological objects, 

 birds, mammals, and serpents from Brazil, as well as a specimen of sea- 

 lion from Patagonia. 



Europe. — The additions of the year consist of marine shells, cretaceous 

 fossils from Sweden, and skeleton of the white porpoise from Norway ; 

 also models of the common form of weir used in Denmark for the capture 

 of fishes ; minerals from Saxony ; highly valuable specimens of crania 

 and pottery belonging to the Anglo-Saxon period of British history ; 

 prehistoric objects from the celebrated locality of Solutre, among them 

 numerous bones of the horse, the remains of which, to the number ot 

 many thousands of individuals, have been accumulated in a single de- 

 pository. 



Other parts of the ivorld. — Among the most noteworthy of the collec- 

 tions received are those of fishes, crustaceans, seeds, bulbs, shells, &c, 

 from the island of Mauritius; models of dwellings, articles of dress, 

 specimens of fishes, crustaceans, corals, &c, &c, from the Samoan 

 Islands; and fishes from KamtschatJca. 



Not the least interesting and important of the collections of the year 

 are "squeezes" from Egyptian antiquities, and a perfect copy of the 

 Tanis or Canopus stone, from the museum at Boulak, of which a much 

 inferior copy was already in possession of the Institution. 



Miscellaneous. — The Navy of the United States has very largely con- 

 tributed specimens collected during the voyages of the Portsmouth 

 among the Pacific Islands ; of the Narragansett in the Gulf of Califor- 

 nia and vicinity, embracing shells, fishes, birds, and ethnology; and of 

 the Tuscarora in the Pacific Ocean, between the United States and the 

 Sandwich Islands and Japan, consisting of the soundings taken while 

 selecting a suitable line for a trans-Pacific telegraphic cable. 



Systematic summary. — Having described the principal additions to the 

 National Museum in 1874 in geographical order, it may not be amiss^ 



