388 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



funds are not withheld from this well-known American institution. We 

 are told that the Commonwealth came forward most generously, and 

 sustained, often under most unpropitious circumstances, the interest it had 

 shown in the Museum. From the treasury of the Commonwealth no less 

 than 240,000 dols. has been received at various times, and up to the 

 beginning of 1895 more than 1,580,000 dols. (exclusive of income) has 

 been received from all sources, including the State grants, the subscriptions 

 of friends, and the gifts of the family of Prof. Agassiz. 



This large sum is represented by the buildings, exclusive of the botanical 

 and miueralogical sections ; by the collections and the work expended upon 

 them ; by the library, and an extensive series of publications (twenty quarto 

 volumes of Memoirs and thirty octavo volumes of Bulletins) ; and by an 

 endowment of over 580,000 dols., the income of which is available for the 

 salaries and running expenses of the Museum of Comparative Zoology and 

 its allied departments. 



The Thirty-ninth Anuual Report for the year 1896 of the Chicago 

 Academy of Sciences has appeared, and the natural history collections of 

 the Museum seem steadily increasing. This is particularly noticeable in 

 the department of Mollusca. In 1895 the Academy acquired the collection 

 of Cyprcea, owned by Mr. J no. Walton, of Rochester, N. Y., and the 

 collection of Muricidce owned by the Curator. " The first collection num- 

 bers 160 species and over a thousand specimens, among which are fine 

 specimens of pulchr a, aurantlum, therdtes, exusta, decipiens, leucostoma, &c. 

 The Muricidce number 112 species, represented by about 300 specimens, 

 among which are a number of type-specimens, an excellent set of Magilus 

 antiquus, showing tubular development, with the operculum, besides varietal 

 sets of Purpura, Murex, Eupleura, &c. 



