Repo?'t of the President 2 5 



exploration, always with results of supreme interest in both 

 archaeology and natural history. 



SOUTH AMERICA 



Some three years ago the Museum began to devote especial 

 attention to this continent and has since been carrying on 

 intensive field operations, chiefly under the direction of Curator 

 Chapman. The accompanying map will show the extent of our 

 previous operations and the plans proposed for the future. 

 The progress of the work in 1914 has been especially impor- 

 tant, due in part to the great personal interest which Colonel 

 Theodore Roosevelt has taken in it. 



When Colonel Roosevelt was planning his recent expedition 



to South America, he generously offered to take with him two 



_ , representatives of the Museum, to assist in 



Roosevelt , . , .,.,„. 



making the zoological collections, and upon the 



return of the expedition to present the speci- 

 American „ , . . . ,, 



_ ,. . mens collected to the American Museum. 



Expeditions _, T _ __.„ , _, _ Tr _. 



r Mr. Leo E. Miller and Mr. George K. Cherne 



were assigned by the Museum to this work, the former to 

 devote himself to mammals and the latter to birds. The 

 entire expense of the expedition was borne by Colonel Roose- 

 velt, with the exception of the salaries of Messrs. Miller and 

 Cherrie, which were provided for by Mr. Cleveland H. Dodge. 

 As a result of this expedition through Paraguay and the wilder- 

 ness of Brazil, more than 450 mammals and 1,375 bird speci- 

 mens were added to the Museum collections. Colonel Roosevelt 

 was so impressed with the importance of the investigations that 

 Curator Chapman was making and with the ability of Messrs. 

 Miller and Cherrie to carry on this field work that upon his 

 return he personally gave $2,000 towards meeting the expense 

 of expeditions that would continue these naturalists in the 

 field. As a result, the Museum has recently sent Mr. Miller, 

 accompanied by Mr. Howarth S. Boyle, to Colombia and 

 Bolivia to conclude the ornithological work of this region; 

 later they will go to eastern Panama. It is expected that 

 Mr. Cherrie will be sent to the marshes of Paraguay to con- 

 tinue the work of the first Roosevelt expedition. 



