EEPORT OP ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 113 



in use at Fez. Between Spain and Persia are located about a score of 

 pottery centers, which show the steps of development from the old 

 Spanish and Moorish patterns. 



Mr. Williams suggests the wisdom of beginning at once a collection 

 of local folk pottery, the varieties of which are fast becoming extinct, 

 owing to the introduction of machinery-made wares. It would proba- 

 bly cost from $1,000 to $1,200 to obtain a complete representation of 

 local pottery all over the Mediterranean region. The country lying 

 between Persia and Burmah represents another pottery basin. No 

 European museum has endeavored to make a collection of local folk 

 pottery now in use in these countries save one or two in Germany, and, 

 while such a collection would cost but a small sum now, it will soou 

 become impossible to acquire one at any price. Mr. Williams suggests 

 the following places from which to purchase: Granada, Valencia, Bar- 

 celona, Catalonia, two points in Sicily, Rhodes, Dardanelles, Dauiietta, 

 Upper Nile, Brusa, Damascus, Aleppo or Oorfa, Diarbekir, Bagdad, 

 Brzeroum, Tabreez, Ispahan, Shiraz, and some inland points in Algeria, 

 Sfax, Tunis, Tripoli, and Benghazi. The collection should be made 

 under careful direction, so as to procure pieces of like use, but of differ- 

 ent pattern. 



Twenty-four musical instruments were secured, among them six vari- 

 eties of the gimbrede, two oods, a rabab, a canoon, three varieties of 

 the shebab, two ghitas, a zemmar, a lira, four varieties of drum, two 

 varieties of castanets, and some whistles. Photographs illustrating 

 the manner of playing these instruments were also obtained. Mr, 

 Williams has kindly offered to prepare a short paper, giving the name 

 and parts of each instrument, its habitat and manner of playing, its 

 compass, and a comparison between it and other oriental instruments. 



Articles illustrating light, fire, and the industry of comb-making and 

 numerous household utensils were secured. 



It may be safely asserted that this collection, taken as a whole, is one 

 of the most interesting of its kind that the Museum has ever received, 

 and the sincere thanks of the Smithsonian Institution are due to Mr. 

 Williams for the energetic and intelligent manner in which he has ac- 

 complished his mission. 



Dr. W. H. Rush, of the nautical school ship Saratoga, has consented 

 to collect mollusks and other marine invertebrates during his expedition 

 to the Azores, Madeira, and the English Channel. Two dredges, courte- 

 ously lent by Col. Marshall McDonald, U. S. Commissioner of Fish- 

 eries, have been placed in his hands to aid him in his work of collecting 

 for the National Museum. The attention of Dr. Rush has been espe- 

 cially called to the desirability of obtaining sea-urchins, star-fishes, coral, 

 and crustaceans. 



Mr. J. B. Iddings, of the U. S. Geological Survey, has expressed his 

 willingness to bear in mind the interests of the National Museum, as 

 H. Mis. 129, pt, 2 8 



