MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 31 



REPORT ON THE MOLLUSCA AND CRUSTACEA. 



By Walter Faxon. 



Mollusca. — Two collections of extraordinary value have been 

 given to the Museum during the past year. Professor R. E. 

 Call of Chicago has transferred to Cambridge his collection of 

 shells, amounting to some 40,000 specimens, all identified, num- 

 bered, and catalogued. This collection is composed in the main 

 of the land and fresh-water shells of North America, and for these 

 it is wellnigh complete. The specimens were collected chiefly by 

 Professor Call himself, and were selected with a view to illustrat- 

 ing the geographical range and variation of the different species. 

 The worth of the collection is the greater since it has served as the 

 basis for the various conchological memoirs that have been pub- 

 lished by Professor Call. 



The other gift that deserves special mention is a collection of 

 marine East Indian shells (estimated at no less than 3,000 speci- 

 mens), brought together over fifty years ago by Mr. Balestier of 

 Singapore, and presented to the Museum by the heirs of the late 

 Warren Delano. The shells comprised in this collection are still 

 unidentified, but are remarkable for their perfection and beauty. 



The Rev. R. K. Smith of Kansas City has added to the special 

 collection of New England shells noticed in my Report for 1895- 

 96, and has also given to the Museum a small lot of shells ob- 

 tained during a recent visit to England and Wales. Mr. Agassiz 

 has presented some Achatinellae from Oahu, Hawaiian Islands, 

 and a miscellaneous collection of shells from the Fiji Islands. For 

 other gifts the Museum is indebted to Messrs. G. M. Allen, J. H. 

 Blake, and R. H. Johnson. 



Crustacea. — A collection made at the Fiji Islands in 1897- 

 98 has been received from Mr. Agassiz. Various small lots of 

 North American Crayfishes have been presented by Prof. H. Gar- 

 man of Lexington, Ky., Prof. E. W. McBride of McGill University, 



