REPORT OK DEPARTMENT OF FISHES. 169 



There is, of course, some materia] which must be called distinctly bad, 

 but the amount is becoming less and less every day. 



RECOMMENDATIONS LOT GENERAL REMABKS. 



The duplicate fishes should be disposed of as soon as the sets can i»e 

 made up. 



There should also he some instructions to collectors, cautioning them 

 againsi shipping large numbers of fishes belonging to well-known species. 



Some provisions should be made tor a proper storage of the sUele- 

 tous of fishes, which are uow lying in boxes, where they are inacces- 

 sible. 



I take pleasure in referring again to the assistance which I have de- 

 rived from the following named gentlemen in my work upon the fishes: 

 Mr. Barton A. Bean, Ensign II. <i. Diesel, U. S. N., and Mr. Peter 

 Parker, jr. Without the valuable help of these gentlemen much of the 

 work which has been accomplished would have remained undone. 



The Museum is to be congratulated also upon the addition to its 

 corps of artists of .Miss Mary M. Smith, of Bainbridge, Pa. Through 

 the help of Mr. 11. L. Todd and Miss Smith we are now able to produce 

 very satisfactory illustrations of fishes. 



I herewith append a statement, prepared by Prof. D. S. Jordan, re- 

 garding the collections of fishes made by himself under the auspices of 

 the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum, and the Fish Commission. 

 The collecting expedition of 1881 is of special value, being probably 

 the most extensive yet undertaken in the fresh waters of the United 

 States. The object of this exploration was the gathering" together of a 

 collection of fresh water fishes to be exhibited by the National' Museum 

 at New Orleans. 



A RECORD OF COLLECTIONS OF FISHES MADE UNDER THE 

 AUSPICES OF THE U. S. FISH COMMISSION AND THE I . 

 S. NATIONAL MUSEUM, FROM 1875 TO 1885. 



By David S. Jordan. 



For the past ten years the writer has been engaged in a special study 

 of the distribution of fishes in the waters of North America. In this 

 study he has had occasion to do a good deal of field work in the collec- 

 tion of and preservation of fishes. In this he has been aided by sev 

 eral students and associate's, especially by Mr. Charles 11. Gilbert, now 

 professor of biology in the University of Cincinnati. 



All this work has been carried on under the auspices of the U. S. 

 National Museum and the U. S. Fish Commission. It lias been per- 

 formed, in a greater or less degree, under the direction of Professor 

 Baird, and in all cases most of the material obtained, including the 

 types of all new species, has been sent to the U. S. National Museum. 



