MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 29 



REPORT ON THE FISHES. 



By Samuel Garman. 



The accessions in this department were gathered in widely 

 separated regions. Species from Africa were received from Dr. 

 J. C. Phillips, from Australia from Mr. Joseph Gabriel, from the 

 East Indies from Messrs. W. C. Forbes, H. W. Smith, and R. V. 

 Chamberlin, and the comprehensive series of duplicates from the 

 collections made by Messrs. Owen Bryant and William Palmer 

 in Java. Various fishes of the Atlantic were presented by Drs. 

 Thomas Barbour, H. B. Bigelow, J. S. Kingsley, and Mr. W. F. 

 Clapp. Dr. Roland Thaxter secured an important series in north- 

 ern South America. West Indian species were obtained by Prof. 

 W. M. Wheeler, and Mexican species by Mr. C. L. Hay. Prof. 

 F. W. Putnam's large collection was in reality made up of a num- 

 ber of distinct collections, one from North Carolina, another from 

 the Cave region of Kentucky, and another, known as the McNeil 

 collection, from Central America. Besides these he had numerous 

 specimens from different parts of New England and the Mississippi 

 Valley. The dates at which his fishes were taken gives them a 

 particular value in determining changes that may have taken place 

 in recent times in the same localities. 



The labor bestowed on the fishes has been devoted to sorting, 

 cataloguing, and identifying, and to the preparation of future 

 publications. 



Aside from its growth, the condition of this collection has 

 changed comparatively little. 



