6 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIYE ZOOLOGY. [Apr. 



I have great pleasure in adding that Mr. Louis Cabot is suc- 

 cessfully working up the larval conditions of the Neuroptera. 



The Annelids of the Museum are in the hands of Prof. Ehlers, 

 in Erlangen, for identification ; and Dr. W. Stimpson, of Chica- 

 go, proposes to take charge of the Crustacea. 



In the absence of Mr. Lyman, who is now in Europe, and of 

 Count Pourtales, who goes with me on the Deep Sea Dredging 

 Expedition, to take especial charge of the dredging operations, 

 Mr. Alex. Agassiz will have the sole charge of all the Radiates ; 

 but as Messrs. Lyman and Pourtales have prepared in advance, 

 for exchange, sets of duplicates from the collections lately in their 

 hands, no disadvantage is likely to accrue to the Museum from 

 the suspension of their work. Mr. Alex, Agassiz will be chiefly 

 engaged with the final revision, of the Echini. The Sponges are 

 now completely identified, thanks to the revision made of them 

 by Prof. Oscar Schmidt. 



Dr. Maack is charged with the final arrangement of the Fossil 

 Vertebrates. But he is first expected to work up the collection 

 he has brought home from the Darien Expedition, under com- 

 mand of Captain Selfridge, and to complete his report upon the 

 same. Meanwhile, I expect Dr. Maack to superintend the cast- 

 ing of new and characteristic fossils which I have selected to be 

 multiplied by Mr. Kappeler for our exchanges. Mr. Kappeler 

 is so completely master of his art that I expect to render a sig- 

 nal service to our science, by having him make casts of the 

 most remarkable fossils described by American palaeontologists, 

 and by procuring casts of unique specimens from the Old World, 

 in exchange for specimens thus far only known from American 

 deposits, a direct comparison of which is often an absolute 

 necessity for accurate identification. 



Mr. Perry will continue the arrangement and identification of 

 the tertiary fossils, with the aid of two young assistants, who 

 have already had considerable practice in this kind of work. 

 The investigations Mr. Perry has made, this summer, of the ter- 

 tiary deposits of the Southern States have furnished him the 

 means of a more accurate comparison of the American forma- 

 tions of these recent periods in tha earth's history with those of 

 Europe, from which I expect much benefit to our collection. 

 Besides this, Mr. Perry is devoting special attention to the fos- 



