REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 31 



123 plates. Special Bulletin No. 3 is also ready for the press. This is the second 

 volume of " Life Histories of North American Birds," by Maj. Charles Bendire. 



In the series of circulars, No. 47 has been issued. The object of the circular is to 

 indicate the conditions upon which the Museum will undertake the identification of 

 mollusks. The necessity of printing such a circular arose from the vast amount of 

 material of this kind received for examination during recent years. In almost every 

 instance the return of the material was expected, and thus the Museum Avas called 

 upon to do a Aery large amount of Avork with little or no return of any kind. 



Explorations. — Dr. William L. Abbott has continued his explorations in Africa and 

 India, and the Museum is deeply indebted to him for additional collections of ethno- 

 logical and natural-history objects. Among the latter, a fine series of skins of lemurs 

 and of the insectivores peculiar to southeastern Madagascar are of conspicuous inter- 

 est and value, 



A valuable collection, consisting of 1,553 specimens of antiquities, obtained in 1895 

 from the cliff dwellings and ancient pueblos near Tusayan, Ariz., has been gathered 

 by Dr. J. Walter Fewkes. This collection will doubtless be supplemented by others 

 of equal interest, as Dr. FcAvkes is continuing his explorations this summer (1896). 



A very acceptable collection of natural-history material was obtained for the 

 Museum by Lieut. Wirt Robinson, U. S. A., during his travels in the West Indies and 

 South America. 



Additional collections of mammals, birds, and other natural-history specimens, 

 obtained in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the Gulf of California, haA r e been received 

 from Dr. Edgar A. Mearns, U. S. A. 



A collection of objects illustrating the manner of life among the Kiowa tribes has 

 been gathered by Mr. James Mooney, of the Bureau of Ethnology, and transferred 

 to the National Museum. 



As a result of explorations in a cavern near Dufneld, Scott County, Va., conducted 

 by Gen. A. L. l'ridemore, of JonesA'ille, Va., the Museum has received a large col- 

 lection of human bones. 



Important collections have been received from the United States Fish Commission, 

 comprising material collected in various parts of the United States by exploring 

 parties sent out under the direction of the Commission. The Department of Agri- 

 culture has been instrumental in adding, through its explorations, to the Museum 

 collections. V tine collection of Lower Silurian fossils from Valcour Island, Lake 

 Champlain, and of trilobites from Rome, N. Y., was made by the United States 

 Geological Survey, and will in due course be transmitted to the Museum. Several 

 large and valuable collections have been received from this source during the year. 



Prof. K. Ellsworth Call, of Cincinnati, Ohio, has explored some of the caves in 

 Kentucky, and has transmitted to the Museum a large number of bats from the 

 Mammoth ( lave. 



Several of the curators and assistant curators in the Museum have at various times 

 during the year been engaged in col lee ting material. The results of these expeditions, 

 which were for the most pari very successful, have been incorporated iuto the 

 Museum collections. 



< 'otton States and International Exposition, Atlanta. — The exposition opened on Sep- 

 tember IS and closed on December 31. Fourteen departments of the Museum were 

 represented bj special exhibits, and also several sections of the department of arts 

 and industries. The sum allotted fco the Institution and the Museum was $22,000. 

 I he Museum report for this year I L895-96 I, now in course of preparation, will contain 

 ■■u\ elaborate report upon the exhibits of the Institution and the Museum, accompa- 

 nied by detailed lists of the objects exhibited. 



Reaped fully submitted, 



6. Brown Goode, 

 Assistant Secretary in Charge of the U. S. National Museum. 



Mr. S. P. LiANGLJ \ . 



Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 

 A i oust 1, 1896. 



