REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 47 



panied with special directions for collecting, packing, and shipping, as 

 also a schedule of classification. 



The mineral department was first organized, and was placed in charge 

 of Prof. William P. Blake, an experienced mining-engineer and geolo. 

 gist. In this work he was assisted by Mr. Thomas Donaldson, who had 

 charge of the collecting of the gold and silver ores of the West, and of 

 which he secured a very complete and exhaustive representation. 



The department of the animal products and of the fisheries was placed 

 more particularly in Mr. Goode's charge ; and that of ethnology assigned 

 to Dr. Rau. For fuller details of what hus been done in this and other 

 branches, I refer to my special report to you. 



As the general result of the agencies that have been set in motion. I 

 may state that the contributions in 1875 amounted to over one thousand 

 in number, embracing nearly two thousand packages, from four hundred 

 and sixty-four different parties, this being, as already stated, far in 

 excess of those of any previous year. 



1 present herewith a list of these donations, arranged alphabetically, 

 and to which I refer for additional details, the aggregate being too great 

 to permit the systematic plan of presentation of previous years. 



Under the head of Mammals, the most important addition to the 

 stock is that of the series of skius of the fur-seal and sea-lion, presented 

 by the Alaska Commercial Company, twenty specimens of the former 

 and five of the latter constituting the contribution. To this company 

 the Smithsonian Institution is under many obligations, not only for 

 securing and sending the skins, but for acting as its agent in San Fran- 

 cisco for the transaction of its business, connected with the transmission 

 of supplies to its correspondents and the forwarding to Washington of 

 their collections. From Mr. Charles E. Aiken, of Colorado, several 

 specimeus of mountain-buffalo and other animals have been reeeived. 

 Capt. James Gilliss has supplied the black-tailed deer ; Colonel Broek- 

 ett, a fine elk ; Mr. P. T. Barnum, specimens of various animals that 

 have died in his menagerie, such as the eland, giraffe, sea-lion, ostrich, 

 &c. Bev. R. R. McLeod, of Houlton, Me., has furnished nearly all the 

 mammals of Maine, such as the caribou, the beaver, the porcupine, the 

 fisher, the marten, &c. 



Of birds, the more especial contributions are a series of fine specimens 

 from Mr. S. C. Bowman, a skin of the Honduras turkey from Mr. F. F. 

 Sarg, and a collection of Alaskan species from Mr. Lucien M. Turner. 



Numerous small lots of reptiles and amphibia have been received from 

 various gentlemen, and will be found enumerated in the list. 



Of fishes, the most important special collections are a series of the 

 fishes of Norway from Mr. Robert Collett, and those gathered by the 

 United States Fish Commission ; types of South American fishes, from 

 C. R. Liitken ; collections from the vicinity of Newport, by Mr. Samuel 

 Povvel; and from Gloucester, by J. S. Whitman; from California, and 

 Oregon, by Mr. Livingston Stone, &c. 



