30 



COMPARATIVE ZO-OLOGY. [June, 



practical working knowledge of the microscope. Mr. Edward 

 Burgess was also employed by the college to give a course of 

 instruction in Entomology during half a term. The care of 

 this system of instruction has required about five hours per 

 diem during the eight months of the university year ; this has 

 left little time for any other work. The first part of a mono- 

 graph, on the Brachiopoda of North America, has been pre- 

 pared for the press and will be issued during the current 

 year, as a part of the Catalogue of the Museum, with eight 

 plates and two maps to illustrate geographical distribution. 



The second part is about half ready for the press. The 

 condition of the collection of Brachiopoda has been materially 

 improved. A lathe has been arranged in such fashion as to 

 cut sections of the specimens ; several hundred have been 

 prepared, showing the internal structure, and about one hun- 

 dred microscopic sections have been made and mounted by 

 Mr. Crandall. These preparations have already given some 

 important additions to our knowledge of the remains of this 

 group of animals. With the hope of making important ad- 

 ditions to our collections of fossils, a subscription was obtained 

 to send Mr. Crandall on a collecting journey through the 

 mountain region of eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, 

 northern Georgia and Alabama. At the present time this 

 expedition is still in the field. Large collections have been 

 made, however; those from near Chattanooga, Ga., and 

 Huntsville, Alabama, having an especial value. Mr. Cran- 

 dall will spend some time in Illinois, working upon the most 

 important localities in that State. 



The department is indebted to the following gentlemen for 

 subscriptions to this exploration fund : A. E. R. Agassiz, 

 Louis Cabot, John Cummings, C. W. Eliot, E. W. Gurney, 

 Theodore Lyman, John E. Lowell, and N. S. Shaler. 



During the summer months of 1872, arrangements have 

 been making for the foundation of a Zoological station and 

 summer school of Natural History on our coast. With a 

 view to determine the best place on our shore for such a work, 

 a careful inspection Was made of the coast between New Lon- 

 don, Conn., and Eastport, Maine. With the advice and con- 

 sent of the director of the Museum, Nantucket has been 

 selected for the site of the station and school. It is intended 



