6 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



supplement the earlier collections of Weinland (1860), Uhler 

 (1866), and Frazar (1883), also in the Museum. 



Though the collections of the Museum have been enriched by 

 the bequest of the late Frederick Blanchard of Tyngsboro, ento- 

 mology is the poorer by his death which occurred on 2 November, 

 1912. Mr. Blanchard was appointed an Associate in Entomology 

 in the University Museum in 1911, but his interest in the Museum 

 of Comparative Zoology antedated his official connection with the 

 University by more than a quarter of a century. Since the acces- 

 sion of the great John L. Leconte collection of North American 

 Coleoptera in July, 1884, Mr. Blanchard worked during his 

 too infrequent visits to the Museum more for the benefit of the 

 Museum and for the scientific publications of others than for 

 his own reputation; few systematic papers of value relating to 

 North American Coleoptera have been published during the 

 past two decades that have not benefited by his unselfish work. 

 His collection of North American beetles, one of the two or three 

 most valuable collections in private hands, contains more than 

 six thousand species, in series sufficient in many cases to illustrate 

 variation in structure and in distribution. It is not, however, the 

 size of the collection, but the study it represents, that is the chief 

 value of the Blanchard collection. A collector since his boyhood, 

 Mr. Blanchard was also one of the keenest and most accurate 

 of students and the neatest of preparators. It is no exaggeration 

 to state that his collection will bear comparison with any, in the 

 close separation of nearly allied forms and in the nicety of mount- 

 ing and of labeling. 



To every interest of the Museum, the collections both research 

 and exhibition, the library, and the publications, Col. John E. 

 Thayer gives his constant and generous support. 



For a gift of much scientific value, a series of specimens illus- 

 trating the development of three ancient types of fishes, Lepido- 

 siren, Protopterus, and Polypterus, the Museum is indebted to 

 Prof. J. Graham Kerr. This material, which is still unique, is of 

 great morphological interest. 



One of the most important acquisitions received during the year 

 is the large collection of Attidae, (Jumping spiders), the joint gift 

 of Dr. George W. Peckham and Mrs. Elizabeth G. Peckham of 

 Milwaukee. Several years ago, in 1908, Mr. and Mrs. Peckham 

 gave the Museum the types of many North American Attidae de- 

 scribed by themselves. The collection presented this year contains 

 a very large number of species from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, 

 and South America. Its great value consists in the authentic 



