REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 25 



in the exhibition halls. This series is kept for purposes of comparison 

 and study, or as a basis for the preparation of monographic treatises. 

 Numerous applications have been received for the loan of specimens in 

 the Museum, constituting types of the species, and as on several occa- 

 sions in previous years type specimens have been lost or otherwise de- 

 stroyed whilst in the hands of the borrower, it has been found absolutely 

 necessary to impose very strict limitations upon the sending away of 

 type specimens. Free access is allowed to specialists in the examina- 

 tion of these specimens in the laboratories, but no type specimens are 

 now sent to individuals. Formal applications by the authorities of other 

 museums are always, when possible, favorably responded to. In this 

 connection a circular (No. 35) has recently been issued. It reads: 



Type specimens will in future not be sent out of the National Museum 

 for purposes of study, except to officers of scientific institutions or so- 

 cieties ivho shall charge themselves with the responsibility of their safe- 

 keeping and return. 



This action on the part of the Museum is in no way intended to act 

 as an obstacle to those engaged in scientific pursuits, but is a necessary 

 step in order to insure the finding of any given types when desired for 

 study. 



1. PROGRESS OF GENERAL AND INCIDENTAL WORK. 



Library. 



The work of the library has been carried on without any important 

 changes from the methods employed in the previous year : it is, how- 

 ever, becoming yearly more serviceable to the scientific staff of the 

 Muuseum, as is shown by the fact that the number of books borrowed 

 during the year is greater than ever before. 



The total number of books and pamphlets received during the year 

 was 2,424 (exclusive of regular periodicals). Of these, 1,372, or more 

 than one-half, were books selected from the extensive accessions of the 

 Smithsonian Institution to be retained at this library, while the rest 

 were sent to the Library of Congress. 



As usual, the chief contributor has been Professor Spencer F. Baird, 

 to whom the library is indebted for 37 volumes, 192 pamphlets, and 2 

 maps. 



Another important gift was that of Mr. J. G. Brevoort, of New York, 

 which consisted of 16 volumes and 144 pamphlets, almost entirely on 

 ichthyological subjects, and many of them of great value. Among 

 other contributions the most important are those from Mr. Robert 

 Ridgway, IT. S. National Museum, 52 pamphlets; the Smithsonian 

 Institution, 5 volumes, 25 pamphlets; the Royal Swedish Academy of 

 Sciences, 10 volumes, 20 pamphlets; and the U. S. Geological Survey, 

 9 volumes and 2 pamphlets. 



The periodical department of the library contains more or less com- 

 plete sets of 570 periodicals, chiefly the proceedings of learned societies 



