HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM 



Angus 

 Collection. 



Edwards 

 Collection. 



Schaus 

 Collection. 



Sachs 

 Collection. 



sented by entire broods showing the variation and intergradation of 

 the species. 



About 13,000 butterflies, moths, beetles, grasshoppers, wasps, etc., 

 were contained in the collection presented by Mr. James Angus in 1891. 



The Harry Edwards collection was one of the largest private col- 

 lections in the world. It numbered 150,000 specimens (60,000 lepidop- 

 tera), many of which were types, and 20,000 species, gathered from 

 all parts of the globe. It was purchased in 1892 for $15,000, $9,600 

 of which was received from friends of Mr. Edwards in response to an 

 appeal from a committee headed by Mr. A. M. Palmer, which had been 

 organized to secure the collection for the Museum. 



The Schaus collection comprises some 31,000 specimens of butter- 

 flies and moths and was presented by Mr. William Schaus in 1897 

 and 1906. About 5,000 specimens of the collection representing the 

 principal known genera of Old World moths were gotten together 

 by Mr. Schaus as a study collection for comparison with New World 

 forms. It contains many type specimens and species authentically 

 determined by comparison with British Museum types, a feature 

 making the collection highly useful to specialists and students. (Esti- 

 mated value of Old World Collection, $10,000.) Some 26,000 speci- 

 mens were gathered by Mr. Schaus during three years' search in Mexico 

 and Central and South America. 



A series of butterflies and moths from Africa, India, and other 

 parts of the world was presented by Mr. William Sachs in 1900. It 

 contained about 300 specimens, many of which were very rare. 



About 500 butterflies were collected in Sumatra in 1895 by Mr. 

 Rudolf Weber. Almost all of them were new to the Museum collec- 

 tions. Seven hundred and fifty were collected by Mr. F. C. Nicholas 

 in Honduras and U. S. of Colombia in 1895. 



DIPTERA— FLIES 



The Museum's collection of diptera attained the first rank of scientific 

 importance in 1903, through the addition to its collection of over 

 8,000 North American flies, containing more than 1,000 species and 



[54] 



