Vlll 
PREFACE. 
sonal knowledge of his labors; but from his well 
known reputation, as well as that of Mr. Wright, I 
doubt not they have accomplished much. It is to be 
hoped that the government will place a proper estimate 
on the labors of these several gentlemen ; and I feel 
confidence in saying that when they are made known, 
they will reflect great credit upon them, and furnish 
important accessions to science. 
In Zoology our collections are large, and embrace 
many new species. The collectors in this department 
were Mr. J. H. Clark, Mr. xlrthur Schott, and Dr. 
Thomas H. Webb. As these collections are unfortu- 
nately scattered, one portion being in the Smithsonian 
Institution and another in Boston, I am unable to speak 
with precision of their extent. Of the first collection 
sent home by Mr. Clark in the spring of 1852, the 
naturalists connected with the Smithsonian Institution, 
Professors Baird and Girard, remark that, “ It will be 
perfectly safe to say that one hundred undescribed 
species of North American vertebrate animals have 
been added to our fauna. The entire annals of 
zoological history scarcely present a parallel to this 
case.” Since that time other collections have been 
received by the same institution. It is to be hoped 
that this large and valuable accession to the zoology 
of the North American continent may be properly 
appreciated by our government, and that the distin- 
guished ■ naturalists now engaged in describing the 
