MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. & 



Pacific " Expeditions. These include two numbers of the 

 " Blake" series (Nos. XXXIX. and XL.), the Dromiacea and 

 Oxystomata, and Bathynomidae by Milne Edwards and Bouvier ; 

 Mr. Agassiz's Preliminary Report (No. I.) of the " Tropical Pacific 

 Expedition " and (Nos. II. and III.) the Medusas by Mr. Agassiz 

 and A. G. Mayer, and the latter's Report on Partula, Volumes 

 XXXVIIL, XXXIX., XL., and XLI. of the " Bulletin," and Vol- 

 umes XXV., XXVI., XXVIL, and XXVIII. of the " Memoirs " 

 are in course of publication. 



In November of last year, I accompanied Mr. Agassiz on his 

 expedition to the Maldive Islands, the only group of atolls that he 

 had not seen in his extensive studies of coral formations. Mr. 

 Agassiz also took with him as assistants his son Maximilian and 

 Mr. H. B. Bigelow. The expedition started from Colombo on the 

 Steamer u Amra," chartered from the British India Steam Navi- 

 gation Co., and commanded by Captain Wm. Pigott, R. N. R. One 

 month was spent in exploring the atolls of the Maldive group. More 

 than eighty soundings were made with a Lucas machine in 1,500 

 fathoms and under, and a splendid series of over three hundred pho- 

 tographic negatives were secured, the weather being most favora- 

 ble at all times. Towing with intermediate nets down to 150 

 fathoms was done, as well as surface towing, bottom dredging, and 

 shore collecting as time permitted. The results of the expedition 

 were most satisfactory in every way, and to the interest and zeal of 

 Captain Pigott and the officers of the " Amra " is due much of its 

 success. Thanks are also due to the British Colonial Office and 

 the officials at Ceylon, to Messrs. Bois Bros. & Co., the agents of the 

 British India Steam Navigation Co., and to his Highness the Sultan 

 of the Maldives. Several Reports of the results of the expedition 

 are nearly ready for the printer. Again I am indebted to Mr. Samuel 

 Henshaw for assuming charge of the Museum during my absence. 



It is with regret that I have to record the death of Alpheus 

 Hyatt, Museum Assistant in Invertebrate Paleontology. Professor 

 Hyatt was one of the early students of Louis Agassiz. He is 

 mentioned in the first annual Report of the Museum for 1859, and 

 his name occurs throughout the series, as from his student days 

 he worked more or less continuously on the collections. He 

 served the Museum as Assistant in Palaeontology from 1885 up to 

 the time of his death in 1901, the greater part of the time with- 

 out salary. He was inspiring as a teacher, and his work as an 

 investigator has left a lasting impression in the fields of Inverte- 



