Jan., 191 7. Annual Report of the Director. 



95 



specimens of satisfactory size of this widely used and well-known sub- 

 stance. The zinc ores include a great variety of the brilliantly colored 

 smithsonites for which Laiuium is famous. Besides the ores there are 

 two lots of the slags from the silver smelting operations of the ancient 

 Greeks between 600 B.C. and 400 B.C. which are now being resmelted 

 to save the silver that the early smelters could not extract. The New 

 Zealand Commission presented a restoration of the giant, extinct bird 

 known as the Moa. This restoration was prepared with great care at 

 the New Zealand Museimi, and shows a bird standing over 12 feet in 

 height with a body measuring 8 feet in length. The probable feather 

 covering is shown, also the form and dimensions of the bird. The 

 great size of this creattire makes it an object of special interest. A 

 very valuable accession obtained largely through the efforts of Mr. W. J. 

 Chalmers, consisted of 40 specimens of tin and copper ores presented by 

 the leading tin mining companies of South Africa. These ores had not 

 been previously represented in the collections and they are also of im- 

 portance since they show characters not seen in the tin ores of other 

 regions. Mr. Chalmers also kindly presented two especially fine 

 crystals of gem tourmaline from California and a specimen of crystallized 

 gold from French Guiana. A series of pebbles from Wyoming 

 showing unusual polishing by wind, was presented by Messrs. Geo. F. 

 Porter and A. A. Sprague. From the Chamber of Commerce of Chlo- 

 ride, Arizona, a representative series of the gold, silver, lead, and other 

 ores of that district was received by gift, making a valued addition. 

 An interesting series of 15 specimens illustrating the manufacture of 

 potash and other products from alunite and of nitrogen products manu- 

 factured from the air, was presented by the Armour Fertilizer Works. 

 In this connection also, the gift by Professor S. H. Knight, of the Uni- 

 versity of Wyoming, of specimens of the leucitic rocks of Wyoming, 

 which are considered possible sources of commercial potash, is worthy 

 of mention. The Titanium Alloys Manufacturing Company presented 

 a specimen of metallic titanium, which is a rarely produced substance, 

 together with specimens of two ferro-titaniimi alloys. The Norton 

 Laboratories gave a large bar of metallic magnesitmi. A series of 

 pegmatite products used in cement facing and two large masses of peg- 

 matite were donated by the Crown Point Spar Company of Essex, 

 New York. Professor E. L. Moseley of Bowling Green, Ohio, gave 

 some interesting specimens of celestite and invertebrate fossils. By 

 exchange, 13 specimens of stream concretions were obtained from 

 Professor F. Justin Roddy and specimens of the Dalton and Lake 

 Okechobee meteorites were received from the United States National 

 Museum. An iron meteorite from Batavia, New York, weighing 5,930 



