REPORT OF ASSISTANT DIRECTOR. 47 



[g) Department of Insects. 



Prof. 0. V. Riley continues to perform the duties of curatorship without 

 assistance, but arrangements have been made for the appointment of a 

 paid assistant curator at the beginning of the next fiscal year. Pro- 

 fessor Riley reports a number of important accessions, including a large 

 collection of Coleoptera and Lepidoptera seut from SikkiinbytheRev. C. 

 EL A. Dall, of Calcutta. A varied collection of insects was secured by the 

 U.S. Fish Commission steamjer Albatross, from the West Indian region, 

 and an important general collection of alcoholic material was received 

 from Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, stationed at Fort Wingate, New Mexico. The 

 most valuable addition, from a classificatory standpoint, to the collec- 

 tion is the collection of diptera, flies, &c, of Mr. Edward Burgess, 

 treasurer of the Boston Society of Natural History, which was bought 

 by Professor Riley ; while the most valuable from a popular and eco- 

 nomic view was the exhibit collection prepared for the New Orleans 

 Exposition. This has been returned with little injury, and is only 

 awaiting space for permanent placing in the Museum. It is made up 

 of the following material, arranged in cases made on the same unit plan 

 as those of the Museum: 



1. Insects injurious to agriculture. — Arranged according to the par- 

 ticular plant and the particular part of the plant affected, and contain- 

 ing, as far as possible, the different states of growth of the insect, its 

 enemies and parasites, a statement of the remedies or preventives avail- 

 able, and a reference to the chief articles where full information can be 

 found upon it. These references are principally to Government and 

 State reports, to which the farmer will most likely have access. 



2. Insecticide substances. — In the catalogue of this collection the aim 

 has been to add, as briefly as possible, a statement of the method of 

 using such substances, so that whenever in the first section a particular 

 substance is recommended for a particular insect- the reader can turn 

 to this second section for further details. 



3. Insecticide machinery and contrivances for destroying insects. — In 

 the catalogue of this section there is given such information as will 

 add to the instructive value of the exhibit, and a large proportion 

 of the more useful contrivances are such as have been designed and 

 perfected in the work of the Entomological Division, or of the U. S. 

 Entomological Commission during the past four years. 



4. Bee culture. — This collection is designed to show all the more valu- 

 able methods and contrivances now in use among the advanced apia- 

 rians. 



5. Silk culture. — In this collection the aim has been to make the ex- 

 hibit instructive rather than full in detail. The collection includes, in 

 addition to the foregoing, a number of framed plates, both colored and 

 plain, that have been prepared in the work of the division, and a num- 

 ber of Prof. Riley's enlarged colored diagrams of some of the more im- 



