710 Zoology. 



Two large collections were this year presented by the 

 Smithsonian Institution of Washington — one from Panama, the 

 other from the West Coast of North America. The former, 

 consisting of 1215 examples, represents a set, as complete as 

 could be supplied, of the shells listed and described by Prof. 

 C. B. Adams in his work entitled, " Catalogue of Shells collected 

 at Panama." The other series (1949 specimens) were chiefly 

 from Cape St. Lucas, Acapulco, Neeah Bay and Puget 

 Sound. 



1866. 



This year was especially notable for the acquisition of the 

 famous " Cuming Collection." This collection is so well known 

 that little need be said respecting it. When acquired by the 

 Museum at the moderate price of £6000 it consisted of 82,992 

 specimens. It is famous on account of the beauty of most of the 

 specimens and the enormous number of types it contains. The 

 actual number of species and types was never estimated, but 

 when we regard the twenty volumes of Reeve's " Conchologia 

 Iconica," the five volumes of Sowerby's " Thesaurus Conchy- 

 liorum," and the numerous papers by Pfeiffer, Broderip, H. and 

 A. Adams, Deshayes and others, all descriptive of this collection, 

 we get some idea of the historic interest attaching to it. This 

 collection of shells was the main object of Mr. Cuming's life. 

 He not only devoted several years of personal collecting to its 

 formation, but he purchased largely, and obtained very many 

 species by exchange with foreign museums and private collectors 

 in all parts of the world. With regard to the depreciatory 

 remarks of Dr. J. E. Gray concerning this collection (Proc. 

 Zool. Soc. 1867, pp. 726-730), I am bound to say that I 

 cannot endorse them. Having worked at the collection for 

 many years, I think I may safely say that it is only in com- 

 paratively few cases that types are not to be found which are 

 stated to have been in it. Dr. Gray did not Mow the collection 

 or he would never have stated that he had " not observed any 

 indication of the depths in the ocean whence the specimens were 

 obtained." The fact is that hundreds and hundreds of tickets 

 occur in the collection, in various handwritings, giving such 

 information, and the names of the species are very frequently 

 written upon them in the handwriting of the original describer, 

 or of the person by whom the species have been determined. 



