L8 



COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Jan. 



REPORT ON THE DEPARTMENT OF ICHTHYOLOGY. 



By F. W. Putnam. 



On taking charge of the collection of fishes contained in the 

 Museum in September last, it was considered of primary im- 

 portance that it should be placed in thorough systematic order 

 before any other work was attempted. I therefore at once 

 began the work of arranging the specimens in the several 

 thousand jars now in the large room and gallery devoted to 

 the department. This work has been carried on as fast as 

 practicable, and the fishes contained in jars are now nearly all 

 placed in their proper family or sub-family groups, and in 

 some instances the genera have been separated. This work 

 will be continued until the collection is so arranged that each 

 genus will be by itself ; the identification of the species and 

 the arrangement of faunal and systematic collections can then 

 be proceeded with to better advantage than heretofore. 



I estimate that about one-fifth to one-quarter of the collec- 

 tion has been identified by various persons during the past 

 few years, principally by Dr. Steindachner and Messrs. Bliss 

 and Garman. 



The elimination of a large mass of decayed material and 

 many duplicate specimens, during the past two years, leaves 

 the collection in as good order as can be expected until the 

 further separation of specimens, in the jars which are still 

 overcrowded, can be accomplished by their distribution to the 

 several collections of the permanent arrangement. 



I find by the records of the year, that the work of selecting 

 duplicates for exchange and presentation to various institu- 

 tions and individuals, begun by Mr. Bliss and completed by 

 Mr. Garman, resulted in the distribution of forty-seven lots, 

 each containing on an average about seventy species, and that 

 the total number of specimens distributed was three thousand 

 six hundred and fifty-six. As these specimens were all 



