REPORT ON THE DEPARTMENT OF INVERTEBRATE FOSSILS (PALEO- 

 ZOIC) IN THE U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. 



By Charles D. Walcott, Honorary Curator. 



Two objects have been kept in view in conducting the work of the 

 year: (1) The systematizing and recording of the old collections and 

 accessions preparatory to classifying an exhibition, a study, and a du- 

 plicate series of specimens ; (2) The obtaining by collection, exchange, 

 and gift, of material to fill in gaps in the collection and to render it, in 

 certain lines, more comprehensive and complete than any other Ameri- 

 can collection. And two events have taken place that have had and 

 will continue to have a marked effect upon the first object. These are 

 (1) the change from the small rooms in the south tower of the Museum 

 to the larger laboratory and office in the southwest pavilion, and (2) the 

 appointment of a Museum assistant in the person of Mr. R. R. Gurley, 

 who began work December 1, 1886. 



With better facilities for handling the collections, and with Mr. Gur- 

 ley to do the routine work on them, I hope within another year to have 

 the entire series properly classified and arranged. In order to advance 

 this work more rapidly, during the winter, Mr. C. J. Akin, of the Geo- 

 logical Survey, was employed for three monthsin cataloguing andpaint- 

 ing the record numbers on the specimens; and, with but slight exception, 

 all the accessions have been recorded, numbered, and transferred to the 

 main collection. 



The additions to the collections, as given in the appendix to this re- 

 port, show a satisfactory increase ; yet there are over 6,000 specimens 

 not therein included which will be transferred from the U. S. Geological 

 Survey as soon as they shall have been studied. 



In June, Mr. Gurley went into the field, accompanying one of the 

 field parties of the Geological Survey, to collect fossils in East Tennes- 

 see, which are needed to give a fuller representation of the Upper Cam- 

 brian fauna of that region. 



I respecfully repeat the recommendation made in my report for the 

 last fiscal year, " that a sum be set aside each year for the increase of 

 the collection, by purchase and by sending out collectors." 



The following accessions have been received : 



No. 17474,* from H. C. Powers, Beloit, Wisconsin, contains many fine 



* Received prior to July 1, 1886. 



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