12 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [May, 



Parker, Prof. H. W. 61 specimens, 38 species, skins, from Grin- 

 nell and vicinity, Iowa. 



Smithsonian Institution. 26 specimens, 14 species, dry eggs, 

 from various localities. 



By Purchase. 



Two skins of hawks, from Hudson, Mass. ; 132 specimens skins, 

 83 species, from the vicinity of Jalapa, Mexico ; 70 specimens, 30 

 species, from Dallas, Texas. 



Report on the Fishes, by Dr. Franz Steindachner. 



I arrived in Cambridge, May 11, 1870, having come to this 

 country in order to assist Prof. Agassiz for a few years in the 

 arrangement and determination of the magnificent collection 

 of Fishes in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. As the dis- 

 position of these specimens should agree in every respect with 

 the plan adopted by Prof. Agassiz for all the collections belong- 

 ing to the Museum, I had to put up separately : (1) Faunal 

 collections, to illustrate the ichthyological character of the 

 different zoological provinces ; (2) a systematic collection ex- 

 hibiting the various degrees and different kinds of affinities of 

 these animals ; and (3) a collection representing the types of the 

 different families and genera for the special use of students. 



The collection of the fishes of Brazil secured during the 

 Thayer Expedition is without any exaggeration the richest and 

 most complete in the world, and for that reason it is of the 

 highest importance that they be well preserved and correctly 

 determined. 



I began my investigations with the marine fishes of Brazil, 

 partly and provisionally arranged in glass jars and scattered 

 over the different stories of the Museum. Many were still in 

 barrels and all undetermined. The arrangement of so large a 

 number of fishes according to their systematical position, their 

 locality and their collectors, was a laborious task and required 

 much time and care in its details, particularly as all the jars 

 had to be cleaned and filled with new alcohol. I have now the 

 satisfaction of seeing that all marine fishes of Brazil, except the 

 Mursenidae and Chondrostei, are carefully determined and that 



