DEPARTMENT OF REPTILES AND BATRACHTANS. 203 



it contains some very valuable material which should not be disposed 

 of until utilized. 



Dr. G. Baur, late of Yale College, was given an opportunity to work 

 up the collection of Chelonians, with special reference to the North 

 American species. He left Washington, however, before the task was 

 completed. 



The curator has made special researches during the year iuto the geo- 

 graphic distribution of the reptiles and batrachians of the south- 

 western territories of the United States. A few of the results of these 

 studies are embodied in the report he made upon the collections brought 

 home by Dr. C. Hart Merriam, from the San Francisco mountain 

 plateau, Arizona. He has also submitted, for publication in the Pro- 

 ceedings of the National Museum several minor papers describing a 

 number of new species, as well as a new genus, of North American 

 snakes (Phyllorhynchus broumi n. g. and sp.) besides a more extensive 

 memoir treating of the individual variation in the genus Charina. 



The assistant, formerly connected with the department, resigned his 

 position in the early part of the year, and the curator has since per- 

 formed all the various duties without any aid, save that of some laborers 

 in carrying the jars from the basement to the present office. As a re- 

 sult, it has been impossible to institute a detailed count of the collec- 

 tion. The following estimate of the number of specimens is based upon 

 that of last year by adding the number of entries catalogued during 

 the present year and deducting those which have been disposed of in 

 exchange or transferred to the Department of Comparative Anatomy. 

 According to this estimate the status of the collection on June 30, 1890, 

 is as follows : 



Specimens. 



Reserve series 13,970 



Duplicate series _ _ . 8, 758 



Unassorted and exotics 6, 313 



Total 29,041 



The last catalogue entry in June, 1889, was 15,523; and in June, 1890, 

 16,228. 



