APPENDIX TO SECRETARY'S REPORT. 



Appendix I. 

 THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Sir: I have the honor to present a brief statement of some of the most important 

 features connected with the operations of the National Museum during the hscal 

 year which ended on June 30, 1895. 



Accessions. — During the year the collections have been increased by 1,223 accessions, 

 numbering about 127,000 specimens. This compares favorably with the last four 

 years. The large increase is almost entirely the result of a warm interest in the wel- 

 fare of the Museum on the part of individuals, many of whom have at oue time or 

 another received some courtesy from the Museum, either in the way of a publication 

 or special information on some scientific subject. Collections of more than ordinary 

 interest have been contributed by Dr. William L. Abbott, Mr. William Astor Chan- 

 ler, and Lieut, von Hohnel, His Majesty the King of Siam, the Reverend L.T. Cham- 

 berlain, Mr. A. Boucard, Dr. William L. Ralph, and others. Important gifts have 

 also been received from the Indian Museum in Calcutta and from the Government of 

 Nicaragua. 



The scientific staff. — During the year all the collections of fossils have been placed 

 under one curator, and are now administered under the department of paleontology, 

 of which Hon. C. D. Walcott, Director of the U. S. Geological Survey, is the hon- 

 orary curator. The vertebrate fossils are in charge of Prof. O. C. Marsh and Mr. 

 F. A. Lucas. Among the invertebrate fossils, the Paleo'zoic collection is under the 

 care of Mr. Charles Schuchert. The Mesozoic fossils are administered by Mr. T. W. 

 Stanton, and the Cenozoic, or Tertiary, fossils by Dr. W. H. Dall. The collection of 

 fossil plants is under the charge of Prof. Lester F. Ward, with Mr. F. H. Knowlton 

 as custodian of the Mesozoic plants and Mr. David White as custodian of the Paleo- 

 zoic plants. 



Mr. J. E. Watkins has been appointed curator of all the technological collections. 

 Dr. J. M. Flint, of the United States Navy, has been again detailed by the Secretary 

 of the Navy to serve as honorary curator of the section of materia medica, in place of 

 Medical Inspector Daniel McMurtrie. Dr. J. N. Rose, of the Department of Agri- 

 culture, has been appointed honorary assistant curator of the department of plants. 

 Dr. Walter Hough, Mr. C. W. Richmond, and Miss M. J. Rathbun, have been desig- 

 nated assistant curators in the departments of ethnology, birds, and marine inverte- 

 brates, respectively, Mr. F. H, Cushing, of the Bureau of Ethnology, has been 

 designated custodian of the Pueblo collections. 



Distribution of collections. — There have been 39,236 duplicate specimens distributed 

 during the past year to universities, colleges, museums, and, in a few special instances, 

 to normal schools. This shows an increase of about 13,000 specimens over the dis- 

 tributions of last year. The matei'ial distributed consisted principally of rocks and 

 ores, invertebrate forms of marine life, fishes, casts of prehistoric implements, and 

 minerals. More than half the total number consisted of marine invertebrates. Large 

 quantities of marine forms are collected by the U. S. Fish Commission, and as soon as 



39 



