34 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



bronn, Prussia. Specimens of kaolin and clays from Germany and an excellent 

 series of telluride ores from Cripple Creek, Colo., have also been received. 



Foreign exchanges. — A few of the more important exchanges with foreign establish- 

 ments and individuals are here referred to : From the Imperial Royal Natural History 

 Museum, Vienna, Austria, 66 specimens of Tertiary corals were received in exchange 

 for Lower Cretaceous fossils. The Paleontological Museum of the Royal Academy, 

 Munich, Bavaria, received from the United States National Museum 16 specimens of 

 Cambrian fossils in exchange for material sent some time ago. Thirty-three speci- 

 mens of fossil plants, representing 20 species, were received from the Natural History 

 Society of New Brunswick, St. John, and 90 specimens of fossil plants have been 

 sent in return. The Branicki Museum, Warsaw, Russia, has received 170 bird skins 

 from the National Museum, in continuation of exchanges. Land shells from Trans- 

 caspia and the Caucasus and marine shells from the coast of Russia have been 

 received from the Zoological Museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, St. 

 Petersburg, in exchange for about 2,000 specimens of shells from the National 

 Museum. Mons. M. Cossman, Paris, France, sent a collection of shells in exchange 

 for publications. Sixty-two specimens of Actinians have been transmitted to the 

 Royal Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden, in exchange for material yet 

 to be received. Crustaceans have been sent to the Museum of Natural History, 

 Geneva, Switzerland, in return for specimens already received and in continuation 

 of further exchanges. 



Distribution of specimens. — There were sent out as gifts or in exchange during the 

 year about 32,000 specimens, a considerable increase compared with the number for 

 the preceding year. About one-half of the distributions consisted of marine inverte- 

 brates, a large number of these specimens having been prepared and transmitted to 

 schools and colleges throughout the country. Nearly 7,500 specimens were lent to 

 specialists for study. 



Specimens received for determination. — There has been a decrease in the number 

 of specimens received for determination, the total having been 576 lots, or 140 lots 

 less than for the preceding year. Since very little material of value is acquired 

 in this way, this decrease is not to be regretted, although the work of identification 

 is not unwillingly undertaken, since it has long been the policy of the Museum to 

 render such assistance to collectors and others as may be practicable. 



Explorations. — Material of great scientific value has been received as the result of 

 explorations conducted by the Bureau of American Ethnology. About 1,300 speci- 

 mens of pottery and other relics from Arizona have been added to the collections 

 through the efforts of Dr. J. Walker Fewkes, who has been particularly successful 

 in his archaeological explorations in the southwest during the past few years. A 

 number of unique ethnological specimens from Patagonia were received from Mr. 

 J. B. Hatcher. Explorations undertaken by Mr. Gerard Fowke, of the Bureau of 

 Ethnology, in Brown County, Ohio, yielded a small collection of Mound Builders' 

 relics. 



Mr. R. P. Currie, of the National Museum, visited Liberia with Prof. O. F. Cook, 

 for the purpose of collecting natural history material, and succeeded in gathering a 

 large number of insects, spiders, and myriapods. Valuable specimens of mammals, 

 birds, and reptiles were also secured. A number of rare birds from the vicinity of 

 Lake Okechobee, Florida, were collected by Mr. Robert Ridgway. Interesting 

 specimens of fishes and mollusks were obtained by Mr. Charles Schuchert near Disko 

 Island, Greenland. Some very rare insects from the Commander Islands were secured 

 by Dr. Leonhard Stejneger while serving as a member of the Fur-seal Investigation 

 Commission. Mr. J. N. Rose visited Mexico during the summer of 1897, and spent 

 about four months in making collections of botanical material. A large number of 

 valuable specimens were obtained, including representations of more than 100 species 

 new to science. 



A large number of plants from the Cretaceous and Tertiary formations of northern 

 Greenland were obtained by Messrs. David White and Charles Schuchert. Mr. 



