18 MUSEUM OP COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Apr. 



H. Edwards, mostly from New Zealand, 59 species, 496 specimens. 

 Joseph Heco, mostly from Japan, 7 species, 12 specimens. 

 Prof. J. Wyman, from Florida, 5 species, 22 specimens. 

 Charles Wright, from Cuba, 85 species, 3,028 specimens. 



All very interesting species, and for which we feel greatly 

 indebted to the liberal donors. 



To the Gray Fund we are indebted this year for only 105 

 species and 3,552 specimens, an unusually small accession from 

 this source, and mainly due to collections made directly for us 

 by paid collectors working in our Southern States. 



It will thus be perceived that while our exchanges have been 

 steadily and rapidly increasing, our numbers derived from dona- 

 tions and purchases have gradually diminished ; and although 

 gladly received from our friends, we cannot consider them as a 

 very certain and reliable source of increase. To our exchanges 

 we must mainly look for additions to our collections in this 

 department, especially while the Gray Fund, usually devoted 

 in part to the purchase of shells or the payment of hired 

 collectors, is so much needed in other departments. 



The preparation of a catalogue of our shells, which was in 

 progress at the date of our last report, has not been lost sight of 

 during the past year, but the advance in this direction has not 

 been so manifest, owing to the fact that it has been thought 

 advisable before attempting to catalogue any genus, to place on 

 tablets every species we have belonging to it. This necessa- 

 rily retards the work, but it is steadily going on, and during 

 the past year over 3,600 tablets have thus been mounted, with 

 over 10,000 specimens. 



The marine bivalves are included in the above, but these, 

 together with many genera of Gasteropods, must remain for the 

 present in the work-rooms, for want of space to display them in 

 the exhibition rooms. 



The identification which was going on at the date of our last 

 report, has since been continued, and all the species identified 

 as far as possible with our present means ; but the same hin- 

 drances still remain in the want of the books necessary to a 

 satisfactory completion of the work. 



During the past year we have sent abroad twenty-eight pack- 

 ages of shells, containing 3,980 species, and 11,660 specimens. 

 These have been sent to twenty-two individuals and foreign 



