REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 19 



from time to time as the author, amid other professional engagements 

 in the University of Cincinnati, can find leisure to select and verify the 

 materials. 



In the year 1875 another series of publications was commenced which 

 forms a part of the Miscellaneous Collections. It is entitled "The 

 Bulletins of the National Museum," and is intended to illustrate the 

 collections of natural history and ethnology belonging to the United 

 States, of which the Smithsonian Institution is the custodian. Six 

 numbers of these Bulletins have been published. They are prepared at 

 the request of the Institution by different individuals, and are printed 

 by the authority of the Secretary of the Interior at the Government 

 Printing-Office. 



The following is a list of these Bulletins : 



I. Check-list of North American Batrachia and Beptilia ; with a sys- 

 tematic list of the higher groups, and an essay on geographical distribu- 

 tion, based on the specimens contained in the United States National 

 Museum. By Edward D. Cope. 1875. 8vo, 108 pp. 



II. Contributions to the Natural History of Kerguelen Island, made in 

 connection with the American Transit of Venus Expedition, 1874-'75. 

 By J. H. Kidder, M. D., U. S. N. Part I, Ornithology, edited by Dr. 

 Elliott Coues, U. S. A. 1875. 8vo, 62 pp. 



III. Part II of the foregoing, consisting of Oology, Botany, Geology, 

 Mammals, Fish, Mollusks, Insects, Crustaceans, Annelids, Echinoderms, 

 Anthozoa, Study of Chiornis Minor. Prepared by J. H. Kidder, E. Coues, 

 Asa Gray, E. M. Endlich, Th. Gill, W. H. Dall, C. R. Ostensacken, H. A. 

 Hagen, S. I. Smith, A. E. Verrill, and S. F. Clark. 1876. 8vo, 124 pp. 



IV. Birds of Southwestern Mexico, collected by Francis E. Sumichrast, 

 for the United States National Museum. Prepared by George N. Law- 

 rence. 1876. 56 pp. 



V. Catalogue of the Fishes of the Bermudas, based chiefly upon the 

 collections of the United States National Museum. By G. Brown 

 Goode, assistant curator United States National Museum. 1876. 8vo, 

 84 pp. 



VI. Classification of the collection to illustrate the animal resources 

 of the United States. A list of substances derived from the animaL 

 kingdom, with synopsis of the useful and injurious animals, and a class- 

 ification of the methods of capture and utilization. By G. Brown 

 Goode, assistant curator United States National Museum. 1876. 8vo ; 

 140 pp. 



An account of the first two of the Bulletins was given in the last an- 

 nual report. 



The third number of the series, that on the natural history of Kergue- 

 len Island, by Dr. J. H. Kidder, United States Navy, embodies the re- 

 sult of the examination of the eggs, the identification of the plants, 

 fishes, mollusks, insects, &c, of the region. It also contains a brief 



