1873. J 



SENATE— No. 252. 



19 



Report on the MoUusca^ by John G. Anthony. 



My last report, made on the 31st December last, brought 

 the transactions, in my department, up to that date, leaving 

 therefore but a period of ten months to report on at this time. 



During the early portion of the present year my health was 

 so far impaired as to interfere very materially with my labors 

 at the Museum, the severe cold weather rendering my attend- 

 ance there very uncertain. I was able, however, to continue 

 my w^ork for the Museum at such times at home, and in the 

 identification of species, as well as in mounting specimens, 

 considerable progress was made. The correspondence, too, 

 so necessary in keeping up our regular exchanges, was duly 

 attended to, and several packages were at that time prepared 

 at home ready for sending abroad. 



Among other labors performed at that season, was the ex- 

 amination and identification of all the unlabelled shells be- 

 longing to Colby University at Waterville, Maine, which were 

 brought to my house for that purpose. These specimens con- 

 sisted mainly of that portion of the collections made by Mr. 

 A. S. Bickmore, in the South Seas, which came to the Uni- 

 versity through the liberality of one of its most generous 

 patrons, and in consideration of those services and the further 

 promise of such of our duplicates as we can readily spare, we 

 received all the duplicate shells belonging to that institution. 



Soon after resuming regular labor at the Museum, I com- 

 pleted the final arrangement of all our land shells, adding to 

 the several genera such species as had been accumulating for 

 three years past, and the whole is now in complete order. 



Having concluded this laborious task, so far as land shells 

 were concerned, I have since followed the same plan with the 

 marine genera, and am now busily engaged, when other duties 

 do not prevent, in completing that desirable object, making 

 at the same time a full catalogue in all the genera. As this 

 work properly performed necessitates more or less identifica- 

 tion of species, it is of course a slow process, but one w^hich 

 I hope to bring to a satisfactory conclusion within the coming 

 year. When that desirable end is accomplished, the collec- 

 tion of shells will be in better condition than ever before. 



During this period our exchanges have by no means been 



