54 Report of the President 



Brazil and Florida, the department has acquired several thou- 

 sand specimens, a great many of which are new to science, 

 judging from the groups already studied. The collections are 

 rendered more valuable through the copious field notes accom- 

 panying them, so that they are available for important studies 

 in general biology. 



The Williston Collection of Tropical Diptera has been ac- 

 quired during the year. This valuable series has been labeled 

 and sorted, and a list of 395 type specimens has been prepared 

 for publication by Mr. Grossbeck; this task has required nice 

 discrimination, as in the majority of cases there was no type 

 label attached to the specimen. 



Two other collections have been received which comprise 

 different but equally important kinds of types, namely, types 

 of experimentally produced forms, similar to the series received 

 last year from Prof. W. L. Tower. Prof. T. H. Morgan has 

 donated numerous examples of fourteen of the new forms of 

 Drosophila ampelophila which he obtained by selective breeding, 

 while the New York Entomological Society has generously 

 purchased and presented to the Museum the Lepidoptera which 

 Mr. Otto Seifert had reared under changed environmental 

 conditions during their developmental stages. 



The heirs of the late Rev. J. L. Zabriskie presented his 

 large general collection of insects to the New York Entomo- 

 logical Society, which in turn presented it to the Museum. 

 This collection is especially valuable on account of the great 

 number of local records accompanying the specimens. The 

 department has also received by gift large general collections 

 from Dr. J. H. Stebbins and Mr. J. A. Grossbeck. 



The degree of progress in this division is partly indicated 

 by the striking fact that during the year it has acquired nearly 

 one hundred thousand specimens. It is apt to be overlooked 

 that all these specimens must be cared for individually and 

 that the labor involved is literally prodigious. At the begin- 

 ning of the year a great mass of unlabeled and unsorted 

 material still remained for arrangement. The fact that the new 

 year has begun with nearly clear tables, as far as the general 

 manual work is concerned, speaks most highly for the efficiency 

 of the few assistants upon whom this work has devolved. 



