REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 57 



Bulletin 35 ; Bibliographical Catalogue of the Described Transforma- 

 tions of North American Lepidoptera, by Henry Edwards, was issued 

 August 15, 1889, and contains 147 pages. This is an important work 

 of reference for entomologists. The author's intention is to issue a 

 yearly supplement to this list, keeping pace with the progress of cur- 

 rent work. The references are in chronological order under each 

 species. 



Bulletin 36 ; Contributions to the Natural History of the Cetaceans, a 

 .Review of the Family Delphinida?., by Frederick W. True, was issued 

 August 8, 1889, and contains 191 pages and 47 plates. It was prepared 

 after careful research iu the principal museums of Europe where the 

 types of Gray, Cuvier, Gervais, Schlegel, and other English, French, 

 and Dutch naturalists were examined and measured. Some of the 

 greatest hindrances to the study of the dolphins are the scarcity of ma- 

 terial, the ignorance of the limits of specific variation, and the incom- 

 pleteness of the descriptions of the species of Cetaceans. 



Bulletin 37 ; A Preliminary Catalogue of the Shell bearing Marine Mol- 

 luscs and Brachiopods of the Southeastern Coast of the United States, 

 with illustrations of many of the species, by William Healey Dall, A. M , 

 was issued September 12, 1889, and contains 221 pages, with 04 plates. 

 This bulletin is intended to assist students of the Mollusca of the United 

 States, by bringing together for their use a large number of illustra- 

 tions of species belonging to the fauna of the southern and southeast- 

 ern coasts of the United States, and the adjacent waters. Hitherto 

 there has been no catalogue which covered the ground. The author has 

 attempted to steer a middle course between overdivision of large nat- 

 ural groups and the conservatism which confounds unlike things to- 

 gether. In including or omitting groups of mollusks from this cata- 

 logue, he has been guided by convenience, rather than by systematic 

 completeness. 



Bulletin 38; Contribution toward a Monograph of the Insects of the 

 Lepidopterous Family Noctuidce of Temperate North America. — Revis- 

 ion of the Genus Agrotis, by John B. Smith, contains 237 pages. This 

 was put in type during the year covered by this report, although it was 

 not published until after the close of the fiscal year. This bulletin is 

 the result of a study of the principal collections in the United States. 

 Efforts have hitherto been made to divide this genus, and their exists 

 an abundance of generic names and types, but the true characters have 

 apparently not been recognized, and species have been erroneously as- 

 sociated, so that the result has been that sooner or later the proposed 

 terms have gone into the synonomy, thus increasing the present con- 

 fusion. The author has endeavored to use, as far as possible, existing 

 generic terms in his division of the genus. 



The manuscript and drawings of a bulletin relating to deep-sea fishes 

 of the western Atlantic Ocean were transmitted to the Public Printer 

 during the year, and the engraving of the illustrations was completed, 



