1917.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 351 
a paper describing a small, but valuable lot of fossils from Colombia, 
given by Mr. Lloyd B. Smith. A preliminary report on Santo 
Domingo fossils by Dr. Pilsbry and Mr. C. W. Johnson, has also 
been published. 
Herbarium. 
Mr. Stewardson Brown, who has been able to again take active 
control of the herbarium, spending every other day at the Museum, 
reports much progress in the work in this department. 
During the year Miss Ada Allen has mounted 3,388 sheets of 
plants, which have been catalogued and distributed in the general 
herbarium by Mr. Brown, while Mr. S. S. Van Pelt, who has con¬ 
tinued his voluntary services during the year, has mounted 2,400 
sheets for the local herbarium. 
Mr. Brown has studied and identified the collections made in 
California by Dr. Witmer Stone, and in New [Mexico by Dr. Henry 
A. Pilsbry during 1915, and has also prepared for distribution to the 
New York Botanical Garden, St. Louis Botanical Garden, Gray 
Herbarium and U. S. National Herbarium, 1,723 duplicate specimens, 
in return for valuable accessions received from these institutions. 
Mr. Van Pelt has rearranged nearly the entire Porter collection, 
placing the specimens in systematic order so that they are readily 
accessible, while he and l\Ir. Bayard Long have critically studied 
certain families and separated out the local material, much of which 
has been mounted. Mr. Long has continued his voluntary care 
of the local herbarium. 
Dr. J. C. Arthur and Mr. C. L. Shear spent a week in the study 
of the deSchweinitz cryptogamic herbarium and rearranged much 
of it, giving the Academy the benefit of their expert knowledge of 
these obscure plants. 
Specimens have been loaned to Prof. M. L. Fernald, W. W. 
Eggleston, Francis J. Pennell, C. V. Piper, Mrs. Agnes Chase and 
Prof. A. S. Hitchcock. 
[Minerals and Rocks. 
Mr. Samuel G. Gordon, a student on the Jessup Fund, has con¬ 
tinued to render excellent service in caring for the collections of 
minerals and rocks. During the year he has thoroughly cleansed 
and relabeled the collection of minerals deposited by the Franklin 
Institute and arranged them in the new cases in the mineral hall, 
part of them being placed on exhibition and the others in the study 
