24 PROCEEDINGS: BOSTON SOCIETY NATURAL HISTORY. 
Walter Rothschild has been returned, and for the favor he has 
presented to the Society a finely mounted specimen of another 
species. 
Rev. L. T. Chamberlain of New York City has presented to the 
Society a large series of Eocene and Oligocene fossils from the south¬ 
ern states, representing all of the Eocene and most of the Oligocene 
horizons. 
The Museum has been visited on other than public days by 624 
pupils and teachers, representing 11 schools. 
For general information regarding the Boston Basin geology, 
Professor Crosby says: “This monographic investigation of the 
local geology is to be completed under the auspices of the United 
States geological survey, that is, the Survey bears the expense of the 
work and the chief results are to be published as one of its folios. 
Dr. T. A. Jaggar, Jr., of Harvard, is to cooperate with me in the 
completion of the work and our names wull appear as joint authors 
of the folio, which will be merely a resume or outline of the work. 
It is desired by ourselves, as also by the Survey, that the publication 
of the work in externo , or of the monograph as distinguished from 
the folio, should continue, as begun, by the Society; and I am hop¬ 
ing to submit Part IV at an early date. Publication by the Society 
is desirable, not alone because the Society has already published a 
large part of the work, but also and especially because it is a hand¬ 
book of our local geology and designed to be used by the students, 
teachers, and general public of Boston and vicinity, and because it 
is a part of the original plan to build in the Museum a collection 
which, accompanied by maps and sections, shall form an epitome of 
the geology of the Boston Basin. A large amount of carefully 
selected material has been collected with this object in view.” 
Since taking up my new duties, my work has been confined 
principally to the E. R. Mayo collection of shells. Thus far I have 
gone over the Terebridae, Conidae, Pleurotomidae, Yolutidae, 
Mitridae, Turbinellidae, Fasciolariidae, Fusidae, and Buccinidae, 
about 600 species in all. These have been catalogued by Miss 
Bryant and Miss Martin. 
I heartily endorse the proposed plan of making the New England 
collections a distinctive feature of the Museum, and purpose confining 
most of my work during the summer to enlarging the collections of 
Insecta and Mollusca. From my private collection of Diptera I will 
