1872.] 167 [Annual Report. 
terial for the legitimate purposes of the Society, and how 
largely the Society is likely to be repaid may be judged from 
the incidental donations which we have received. 
These consist of a full suite of the Marine animals of 
Wood’s Hole, a very full and complete collection of the 
fauna on the southern coast of Massachusetts, presented to 
the New England Collection; also an equally complete col- 
lection of the Marine animals of the coast of Maine, made at 
Eastport, and named by Mr. Dwinelle from the collection of © 
Prof. A. EK. Verrill, well known for his long continued and 
accurate work upon the fauna of that region. These collec- 
tions were purchased for the Teachers’ School of Science by 
Mr. Cummings, but the duplicates alone will be sufficient to 
make up the collections which are to be distributed to the 
schools, and the first suite of specimens, including many spe- 
cies yet unrepresented in our Museum, is to become the 
property of the Society. My visit to Wood’s Hole also 
enabled me to obtain a very complete set of the skins of the 
sharks, rays, skates and other large fishes, which were col- 
lected by the vessels and men in the employ of the U.S. 
Commissioner of Fisheries. 
Chas. J. Sprague, Hsq., at my solicitation, very generously 
donated two hundred dollars, and other gentlemen have ex- 
pressed a willingness to assist In paying the expense of stuf- 
fing and placing them in our New England Section of the 
Museum. The larger part of these skins are now in the 
hands of the taxidermist, and I hope to see them completed 
before the end of this summer. 
In this connection, also, it is appropriate to notice the pres- 
ent state of our relations with the Institute of Technology. 
The Lecture room of the Society has been but rarely oc- 
cupied by the classes of the Institute during the past year. 
The Museum, however, has been used more freely, especially 
by the Custodian, in the instruction of the class on Palxon- 
tology. No damage to the specimens has yet occurred, nor 
is likely to occur, except through the carelessness of the of 
