Oct.  1898. 
Annual  Report  of  the  Director. 
279 
tive  series  of  the  ores  and  country  rocks  of  the  Homestake  and  Gilt 
Edge  mines,  and  others  of  that  region."  During  February,  Assistant 
Curator  Nichols,  of  the  department  of  Geology,  spent  three  weeks 
among  the  zinc-lead  deposits  of  Southwest  Missouri,  studying  the 
ores  and  metallurgy  of  the  region,  collecting  ores,  metallurgical 
products,  and  minerals,  and  taking  photographs  of  the  workings, 
both  above  and  below  ground.  Besides  the  ores  and  metallurgical 
products  collected,  exceptional  specimens  of  the  fine  minerals 
for  which  this  region  is  famous  were  secured.  The  photographs 
taken  were  used  to  illustrate  a  lecture  upon  the  region  given  in 
the  spring  course.  As  a  result  of  this  trip,  the  economic  col- 
lections have  been  enriched  by  a  collection  of  zinc  and  lead 
ores  and  associated  rocks  from  the  most  important  zinc-producing 
region  of  the  country.  A  collection  illustrating  the  ore  hearth  proc- 
ess of  lead  smelting  adds  much  to  the  completeness  of  the  metal- 
lurgical collection.  In  January  the  Curator  spent  some  time  in 
investigating  a  find  of  mastodon  bones  near  St.  Louis,  Mo.  A  large 
amount  of  the  remains  was  found  in  place,  but  owing  to  excessive 
rains,  but  few  specimens  could  be  collected.  During  the  return  trip 
of  the  expedition  to  the  Bad  Lands,  the  Omaha  Exposition  was 
visited  and  a  number  of  specimens  secured  from  exhibitors  there. 
Mr.  Elliot,  the  Curator  of  the  Department  of  Zoology,  and  his  assist- 
ant, Mr.  C.  E.  Akeley,  were  commissioned  upon  an  expedition  to  the 
Northwest  in  July.  Under  date  of  September  13,  from  the  Olym- 
pian Mountains,  Mr.  Elliot  writes:  "  The  expedition  to  the  Olym- 
pian Mountains,  which  I  am  at  present  conducting,  has  thus  far 
secured  five  hundred  skins  of  deers,  carnivora,  and  rodents,  which  col- 
lection we  hope  to  increase  considerably  before  our  labors  are  ended. 
This  collection  is  exceedingly  valuable,  coming  as  it  does  from  hith- 
erto unknown  localities  where  no  naturalist  has  ever  penetrated. 
There  are  probably  species  new  to  science  among  them,  but  how 
many  cannot  be  determined  until  they  have  been  examined  and  com- 
pared with  other  material.  The  country  in  which  these  have  been 
procured  is  the  roughest  and  most  difficult  to  traverse  that  I  have 
-ever  seen,  and  my  experience  in  the  various  mountain  ranges  of 
North  America  has  been  very  extensive.  A  great  portion  of  the 
Olympians  is  absolutely  impassable,  and  we  have  reached  a  point 
beyond  which  nothing,  unless  provided  with  wings,  can  go,  while 
from  our  camp  we  can  look  over  a  vast  extent  of  the  range  totally 
unknown  and  unapproachable.  A  naturalist,  therefore,  can  fully  ap- 
preciate the  value  of  the  material  we  have  secured.  Even  if  already 
known,  specimens  coming  from  such  localities  are  of  almost  as  much 
