40 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



practicable after the material has been studied and transferred to the Museum, selec- 

 tions are carefully made with a view to the preparation of "sets" for distribution. It 

 is quite impossible, however, to fill more than a small proportion of the applications 

 received, until Congress makes a special appropriation to be used for the employment 

 of experts in separating the duplicates in the various departments of the Museum 

 and arranging them into collections especially suited for use in educational work. 



Visitors. — There has been an increase of nearly 8,000 in the number of visitors to 

 the Smithsonian and Museum buildings during the year. The total for the Smith- 

 sonian building was 105,658, and for the Museum building 201,744. 



Specimens transmitted for identification. — During the year 467 "lots" of specimens 

 were forwarded to the Museum for examination. Only a very small proportion 

 proved desirable for permanent addition to the collections. If the specimens sent 

 have any value, their return is almost invariably requested. If, however, the 

 Museum is permitted to retain desirable specimens, they are recorded in the Museum 

 catalogues, first as received for examination and report, and again as gifts to the 

 Museum. It is rarely the case that specimens thus retained have any intrinsic 

 worth, their value usually consisting in the fact that they fill gaps in certain series. 

 During the past year the services of the curators in examining and reporting upon 

 material were extended, outside of the United States, to correspondents in Canada, 

 Great Britain, Central America, South America, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, 

 India, Java, Borneo, Philippine Islands, several countries of Europe, and various 

 islands in the Pacific Ocean. 



Foreign exchanges. — Exchanges have been made with several foreign museums 

 during the year. Among them are the Royal Museum of Northern Antiquities, 

 Copenhagen, Denmark; Indian Museum, Calcutta, India; Canterbury Museum, 

 Christchurch, New Zealand ; Museum of Natural History, Paris, France ; Manches- 

 ter Museum, Manchester, England; Museum of Natural History, Vienna, Austria; 

 La Plata Museum, Buenos Ayres, Argentina, and others. Important exchanges have 

 often been effected with individuals, such as Dr. A. C. Haddon, Cambridge, Eng- 

 land ; Mr. Edgar J. Bradley, Happy Valley Water Works, South Australia; Dr. H. von 

 Ihering, San Paulo, Brazil; Mr. M. Stossich, Triest, Austria; Prof. Edward Tregear, 

 of Wellington, New Zealand. 



Publications. — The report of the Museum for 1892 has been published during the 

 year, and the report for 1893 is now going through the press. The papers (976-1032) 

 constituting volume 17 of the Proceedings of the National Museum have, with one 

 exception, been distributed, and the edition of the bound volume is expected daily. 

 Advance sheets of two papers containing descriptions of new species, and intended 

 for inclusion in volume 18, were issued during the year in order to secure to the 

 authors priority of description. 



Of the Bulletin, No. 48, "Contribution toward a Monograph of the Insects of the 

 Lepidopterous Family Noctuidse of Boreal North America, A Revision of the Del- 

 toid Moths," by John B. Smith, Sc. D., has been published. The following " Parts" 

 of No. 39 are now in the folding room : Part H, "Directions for collecting Minerals," 

 by Wirt Tassin; Part I, "Directions for collecting Rocks and for the preparation of 

 Thin Sections," by George P. Merrill; Part J, "Directions for collecting specimens 

 and information illustrating the Aboriginal Uses of Plants," by Frederick V. Coville ; 

 Part K, "Directions for collecting and preparing Fossils," by Charles Schuchert. 

 A supplemental edition of Part A, "Directions for collecting Birds," by Robert 

 Ridgway, has been printed at the expense of the Museum allotment, in order to 

 supply the extraordinary demand for this publication. 



The second of the series of Special Bulletins, in quarto form, entitled "Oceanic 

 Ichthyology," relating to the deep sea and pelagic fishes of the world, by G. 

 Brown Goode and Tarleton H. Bean, has been set in type and will probably be pub- 

 lished during the winter. The third number of the series, being the second volume 

 of Life Histories of North American Birds, by Maj. Charles Bendire, is for the most 

 part in type. It will be illustrated with seven chromo-lithographic plates. 



