REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 17 



Nearly 15,000 specimens have been set aside for arrangement into sets 

 for distribution and exchange. During the year, 662 entries have been 

 made in the catalogue, bringing the total number of entries up to 37,- 

 893. 



Much of the curator's time has been consumed by his work as editor 

 of the Proceedings and Bulletins, and during the year Bulletins 23, 28, 

 29, 30, and 31, were sent to press under his editorial supervision. 



The customary amount of special research has been carried on, and 

 several reports upon special collections have been made. Considerable 

 time has been devoted by Dr. Bean and myself to the preparation of 

 a report upon the extensive deep-sea collections of the U. S. Fish Com. 

 mission, and those obtained by Mr. Alexander Agassiz in connection 

 with the work of the U. S. Coast Survey. 



The work of this department was, during the months of August and 

 September, 1885, transferred to the Fish Commission headquarters at 

 Wood's Holl, where all of the deep-sea collections were concentrated, 

 overhauled, classified, and catalogued, and a considerable amount of 

 systematic investigation carried on, a portion of the results of which 

 have already been made public, and the remainder, it is hoped, will soon 

 appear in a monograph of the deep-sea fish fauna of the Eastern At- 

 lantic, now for some years in preparation. 



The ease with which this extensive collection was handled in the large 

 rooms which were available for the purpose at Wood's Holl, offers an 

 illustration of tho great need for the better accommodation of the fish 

 collection in Washington. Work was finished in a few weeks at Wood's 

 Holl which would have occupied four or five months in the cramped 

 work-rooms in the Museum. 



DEPARTMENT OP MOLLUSKS (INCLUDING CENOZOIC INVERTEBRATE FOSSILS). 



Under the curatorship of Mr. W. H. Dall, the department of mollusks 

 has made extensive progress during the year, especially in the matter 

 of cataloguing and arranging material which has accumulated in past 

 years. The number of catalogue entries was 18,638, representing be- 

 tween fifty and sixty thousand specimens. Only about four times as 

 many entries had been made during the preceding twenty years. 



The classification and systematic arrangement of accessions received 

 in previous years, especially the Jeffries and Stearns collections, have 

 received special attention. 



Among the named species received, which were found to be of more 

 than ordinary interest, were 71 from Bering Sea, a small series of land 

 and fresh-water shells from Manitoba, and a very fine series of Mada- 

 gascar laud shells. As in previous years, the U. S. Fish Commission 

 made by far the most important contributions to the collection. 



A beginning has been made in public exhibition, by placing on view 

 an experimental case containing the chief types of Cephalopo'ls, pearls 

 H. Mis. 170, pt, 2 2 



