12 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Jan. 



of the locality from which it was obtained inscribed upon it, 

 and the name of the collector, as farther security for the accu- 

 racy of the statement. 



With a view of comparing the inhabitants of the different 

 points in the course of one and the same basin of fresh water, 

 I sent out separate parties to explore the head waters of the 

 Rio Doce, Rio Mucury, Rio Jequitinhonha, Rio das Yelhas 

 and Rio San Francisco, in the interior of Brazil, while others 

 were examining their lower course along the Atlantic coast. 

 The companies sent to the head waters of these streams con- 

 sisted of Messrs. Orestes St. John, J. A. Allen, Thos. Ward and 

 G. Sceva, while Messrs. Hartt and Copeland visited the sea-coast 

 from Rio to Bahia, and made numerous excursions up the dif- 

 ferent streams which empty their waters along that coast. 



At the time these parties started, Messrs. N. Dexter and S. Y. 

 R. Thayer were sent to make special collections in the neighbor- 

 hood of Bahia. Here they were received with the greatest 

 hospitality by Mr. Antonio de Lacerda, to whom, on this and 

 many other occasions I was indebted, for the warmest interest 

 and most efficient co-operation in all the affairs connected with 

 the expedition. They afterwards joined me on my way up the 

 coast, when, in company with Major Continho, I visited various 

 stations along the shore, stopping at Pcrnambuco, Maceio, Para- 

 hyba, Natal, Ceara, Maranhaon and Para. Some of these 

 places we visited twice, and the next year I made prolonged 

 stays at Ceara and Para on my return from the Amazons. 



During the three months we passed in and about Rio, on 

 first arriving, all the members of the expedition were engaged 

 in collecting the natural products of the sea and adjoining 

 country, — making excursions in various directions to obtain as 

 complete a knowledge as possible of the characteristic fauna of 

 the province of Rio de Janeiro, — following the Don Pedro Rail- 

 road, and making geological surveys along its route, — collecting 

 fishes in the Rio Parahyba, and visiting the more accessible 

 portions of the adjoining province of Minas Geraes. In these 

 excursions Mr. Anthony was especially busy in collecting the 

 land and fresh water Mollusks ; and I was indebted to my 

 friend Dr. Cotting for a collection of fresh water fishes from 

 the vicinity of Petropolis. Messrs. Allen, Dexter and Thayer 

 attended to the collections of mammalia and birds, and Messrs. 



