52 EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



presented a suite of the Carolina fungi. Lieut. Whipple and Governor 

 Stevens have sent in important collections from their fields of labor. 



Minerals and Fossils. — In connexion with the survey of Gov. Stevens, 

 Dr. Evans revisited the Mauvaises Terres last summer, and collected 

 a large number of specimens of the fossil vertebrata of that region. 

 These have been put into the hands of Dr. Leidy, who has detected 

 the presence of some additional new species. Professor Winchell has 

 sent quite a full series of the cretaceous and tertiary fossils of Alabama, 

 and Major Emory the same from Texas. Many minerals have been 

 received from Dr. Pendleton, of Georgia, and some Austrian stalactites 

 from Mr. Dodge. 



Ethnology. — Skulls of many tribes of Indians — as Lipans, Comanches, 

 Apaches, Flat Heads — have been received from various sources ; as 

 also remains of works of art. An interesting contribution to this de- 

 partment is found in a specimen of the sculpture of the human foot 

 in limestone by the early inhabitants of the country, and erroneously 

 supposed to be an impression made while the stone was in a plastic 

 state. 



PRESENT CONDITION OF THE MUSEUM. 



The collections belonging to or deposited with the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution are at present scattered over the building in its various rooms. 

 Much inconvenience is felt from the impracticability of arranging the 

 specimens properly for examination and study. Everything is kept 

 packed away in the smallest compass, and of course not easily referred 

 to when needed for investigation. The alcoholic collections, however, 

 have generally been accessible when required ibr use. When the new 

 museum room is finished, which will be in the course of a few months, 

 ample space will be afforded for the accommodation of all the specimens, 

 although a considerable time must necessarily elapse before the cases 

 can be put up and the collections properly arranged. 



At the present time the Institution may be said to possess one of the 

 best general collections of specimens of North American natural his- 

 tory in the country, although in particular branches it may be greatly 

 exceeded by several, both public and private. It is pre-eminently 

 rich in the mammals, with their skulls and skeletons; and still more in 

 the reptiles. As an illustration of this, it may be stated that the spe- 

 cies of North American serpents alone amount to 130, of which 70 

 were never described before being received by the Institution. The 

 enumeration by Dr. Holbrook of North American serpents, in 1842, 

 consisted of 49. The other departments of reptiles have experienced 

 nearly proportional increase. The collection of birds is second only 

 to that of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences ; of fishes, only 

 equalled by the private cabinet of Professor Agassiz ; while in the 

 various departments of invertebrata and of plants it holds much more 

 than average rank. In fossil remains the collection is very rich, espe- 

 cially of the comparatively recent vertebrata of" the various caverns 

 throughout the country. 



And, in connexion with this extent and importance of the Smithso- 

 nian museum, it may be well to call attention to the fact that it has 



