Report of the President. 1 5 



and Arizona. The Curator of the Department was in the field with 

 this expedition for several weeks. The other members of the ex- 

 pedition for the season were Mr. F. E. Hyde, Jr., Mr. G. H. Pep- 

 per, Mr. Richard Wetherill, Prof. R. E. Dodge and Dr. A. Hrdlicka. 

 To Professor Dodge was assigned the investigation of the 

 geological and geographical conditions and a study of the geologi- 

 cal evidence of the antiquity of the ruins with special reference to 

 those in the Chaco Canon. Dr. Hrdlicka was charged with the 

 special work of securing human skeletons, and of making a study 

 of the living Indians in the region, in order to obtain somatolo- 

 gical data for comparison of the ancient with the modern peo- 

 ples. Messrs. Pepper and Wetherill continued the special ex- 

 ploration of the ruins of Bonito, in which they have been so 

 successfully engaged for the past three years. The Curator's time 

 was devoted principally to a study of the facts relating to the 

 antiquity of the ruins and to the cause of the desertion of this 

 ancient pueblo by a once numerous and agricultural people, after 

 so much labor had been expended in house building and in exten- 

 sive irrigation. In addition to the very large collection of objects 

 obtained by the parties attached to the expedition, there was also se- 

 cured an exceedingly important collection from the ancient burial 

 caves in Grand Gulch, the remains of a people evidently distinct 

 from the builders of the ancient stone pueblos and cliff-houses. 



The Peruvian Expedition. — The researches by Dr. Bandelier 

 in Peru and Bolivia, of which mention has been made in past 

 reports, have been continued during the year ; a large shipment 

 of specimens obtained from ancient sites in the vicinity of 

 Lake Titicaca is now on its way to the Museum. This expedition 

 was begun under the patronage of Mr. Henry Villard in July, 

 1892, and has since April, 1894, been continued by the Trustees 

 of the Museum. The collection already received is very exten- 

 sive, and illustrates the highest stage of civilization attained in 

 prehistoric time in South America. 



The Exploration of the Trenton Gravels and of the 

 Delaware Valley. — This important research has been continued 

 through the year by the generous patronage of Dr. F. E. Hyde. 

 Mr. Ernest Volk has thus been able to continue his daily exam- 



