Annual Report.] 80 [Mayo, 



labels of the neighboring departments. The Trenton Lime- 

 stone fossils have, however, been newly mounted and rela- 

 belled with the old names. The collection, even in its present 

 meagre representation of past epochs, requires the attention 

 of one person for several months in the year to revise the 

 nomenclature, and relabel and catalogue the specimens. The 

 most important addition consists of a series of casts of twenty- 

 eight species of fossils (mostly cretaceous) received from the 

 Smithsonian Institution. 



The department of Geology has been enriched by a collec- 

 tion of more than five hundred named specimens of rocks, 

 purchased from Dr. Krantz of Bonn. The local collections 

 of volcanic products are mostly labelled and arranged in cases, 

 and the systematic collection of rocks has been rearranged. 

 The economic collections have not increased to the extent 

 hoped for by the Curator, and although architects and pro- 

 prietors of quarries have promised specimens, none have been 

 received during the year. A new case has been placed in the 

 room, but the Curator deems the additional facilities of gal- 

 lery cases needed for a proper display of the collection under 

 his care. 



The Curator of Mineralogy reports that he has rearranged 

 nearly all the specimens in his department, in order to carry 

 out his plan of having the collection correspond in system 

 with that of the recent edition of Dana's Mineralogy. He 

 has . also adopted the new system of labelling introduced in 

 other parts of the Museum, and the extent of his work can 

 be estimated, from the fact that about two thousand seven 

 hundred specimens are on exhibition. He expects to com- 

 plete the task before another annual meeting. As usual, the 

 department is indebted to Dr. C. T. Jackson for many valu- 

 able specimens. 



I cannot trust myself to dwell on the loss which has befallen 

 the Society in the sudden death of our Curator of Botany; 



