Gifts to the Library 99 



THE LIBRARY* 

 Ralph W. Tower, Curator 



The activities of the Library during the year just past have 

 not been surpassed by those of any year in its history. Not 

 only has work of the highest importance been accomplished by 

 the skill and industry of the various members of the staff, but 

 the department has benefited widely through the generosity of 

 its many friends. 



Among the accessions of the first importance are the follow- 

 ing rare and unique volumes, received through the benefac- 

 tions of Mr. Ogden Mills : De Bry, Peregrinationes in Indiam 

 Orientalem, 1598-1613, a valuable first edition of nine parts in 

 Latin which form companion volumes to the Peregrinationes 

 in Indiam Occidentalem previously donated by Mr. Mills. The 

 great usefulness of a work of this character cannot be too 

 highly emphasized — researches in geography, anthropology and 

 zoology are all dependent upon such sources of information. 

 Again through the liberality of Mr. Mills, the collection of the 

 handsomely illustrated monographs by John Gould have been 

 completed, thus not only enriching the Library but supplying 

 a most useful need to the scientists who are carrying on their 

 researches at this institution. These are: A Monograph of 

 the Macropodidce or Family of Kangaroos, 1841-1842; Sup- 

 plement to the Monograph of the Trochilidce; The Birds of 

 Asia in seven volumes, 1850-1883; Mammals of Australia in 

 three volumes, 1 845-1 863 ; A Century of Birds from the Hima- 

 laya Mountains, 1832, and A Monograph of the Pittidce, 1880- 

 1881. 



Through the courtesy of Mr. John M. Hoffmire, a nephew 

 of Mr. Titian Ramsey Peale, the Library has received a copy 

 of Lepidoptera Americana; or Original Figures of the Moths 

 and Butterflies of North America; in their various Stages of 

 Existence, and the plants on which they feed. Drawn on Stone, 



Under the Department of Books and Publications. 



