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Brother Secordian, Hull, P.Q:

Specimen of the Brown Bat (Scotophilus fuscus) from Hull; in the flesh. W. E. Saunders, London, Ont. :

Two small trilobites (Phacops rana) from drifted Devonian limestone at
London.

John P. Esmonde, Ottawa:

Necklace procured from a Blood Indian at the Blood Indian Reserve, twenty-two miles south of Fort Macleod,

B. K. Lowry, Maple Creek, Assa.:—

One vertebra of a buffalo with an iron arrow head imbedded in it, and another with a leaden bullet partly buried in it, both from the Cypress Hills.

By Exchange:

From Dr. W. H. Rush, U.S.N., Philadelphia :

Specimens of seventeen rare species of marine shells from Key West, the
Bahamas, Yucatan Channel, Florida Straits, &c.

By Purchase:

Large Beaver (Castor fiber) from Big Lake, Pontiac County, Ont. ; in the flesh.

Fine specimen of an Ammonite (Placenticeras placenta) from the Cretaceous rocks of the St. Mary River.

Skin (since mounted) of an Albino Grey Squirrel (Sciurus Carolinensis) shot at Lundy's Lane, Ont.

Remarkable color variety of the Bronzed Grackle (Quiscalus quiscalus æneus)
from the neighborhood of Brandon, Man.

Pair of Loucheux (Kutchin) Indian snowshoes, from Lapierre's house,
Porcupine River, Yukon District, and a typical Loucheux knife.
Skeleton of the Star-nosed Mole (Condylura cristata) mounted by M. Jules
Bailly, Montreal.

Molar of Mammoth (Evelephas), dug up in 1887 at St. Catharines, Ont.
One large Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) and a few fine stone im-
plements of Indian manufacture, all from the county of Grey, Ont.

BOTANY, &C.

The work in this section, under Professor Macoun, has made good progress during the year. Part IV, 248 pages R. 8vo. of the Catalogue of Canadian Plants, referred to in the summary report for 1887, as then passing through the press, was published early in the year and has since been distributed to scientific instiututions and botanists in Europe and in America, and has been widely criticized in every case in the most complimentary terms.

During the first week in April, Professor Macoun made a list of all the mounted birds exhibited in the Museum and found that there were 282 species, represented by 42 specimens. In the drawers 170 species were represented by 352 skins, 52 of which were of species not on exhibition in the cases. A list was then made out of all the birds known to Canada, which shows 564 species. This work was preliminary to that of the preparation of a complete catalogue of Canadian birds of the same character as the catalogue of plants, and Professor Macoun is now engaged on it.

Collections of plants to be examined and named were received during the year from Newfoundland and from every province in the Dominion except Prince Edward Island, in all, over 1,500 specimens; these were all named and returned. Between January and the 15th of April there were mounted and placed in the herbarium by Mr. J. M. Macoun, 3,015 sheets of specimens, as under:

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Canadian....

European......................
United States.......

Cryptogams......

850

775

615

775

During the same period there were sent to various museums, colleges and individuals 2,153 sheets of specimens, including 400 to McGill College, 300 to Columbia College, New York, 200 to the Department of Public Instruction, Quebec, and 200 to the British Museum. A large number of specimens received in exchange for those sent out, were mounted and placed in the herbarium which now contains 17,519 sheets. Mr. J. M. Macoun left for the field on the 30th April with a Dominion land survey party. He collected plants and bird skins in the valleys of the Athabasca and Churchill rivers, returning to Ottawa on the 25th of November.

On the 18th of June, Professor Macoun left for Prince Edward Island. Twelve weeks were spent there studying its natural history and collecting specimens. Over 1,100 species of plants were secured, and valuable and interesting notes were made on the summer birds of the island. Returning on the 10th of September to Ottawa, Professor Macoun then proceeded to Northumberland county, Ontario, where three weeks were spent collecting mosses and other material for Part V of the Catalogue of Canadian plants, the writing of which was then being commenced.

Mr. Pearson, of Manchester, England, has kindly given a report on the Hepaticae-165 species-and Dr. Kindberg has examined and named nearly all the mosses, so that Professor Macoun is now in a position to complete Part V of the catalogue during the present winter.

Besides the collections of plants already mentioned, Dr. G. M. Dawson made an extensive one in the region around Kamloops, in British Columbia. Specimens of nearly 1,000 species, chiefly arctic plants, have been received from the British Museum in exchange. These are nearly all of the type species described by Sir W. Hooker in the Flora Boreale Americana published in 1840. Most of the specimens were collected by Menzies, Douglas and Barclay on the Pacific Coast, by Drummond in the Rocky Mountains and by Franklin and Richardson on the Arctic Coast.

MAPS.

There is now in course of preparation, and in various stages of readiness for publication, a large number of maps covering areas in all parts of the Dominion, amounting in the aggregate to 41,460 square miles. Some of these will require to be reduced for publication. They are as follows:

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No.

Scale.

Area in
Square
Miles.

1 Yukon district, N. W. T., and adjacent northern part of British Columbia

2 Index map of above.

8 miles to 1 inch.

3 Big River, Great Whale River, &c., east coast of Hudson's Bay.... 8
4 British Columbia, part of southern interior.
5 North-western Manitoba, preliminary map
6 Western Ontario, Rainy River district.........

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do Lake Temiscaming to Lake Huron.

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and New Brunswick, sheet, 17 N.-E. and 18 S.-E.. 17,18 Nova Scotia, sheet, 4 N -E. and 4 S.-E..................... ............................................................. ................... do parts of sheets 11 N.-W. and S.-W Various traverses in region of Mackenzie and Porcupine Rivers being reduced.

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Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 21, are plans of routes of exploration by land, river and lake, of a total length of about 5,900 miles.

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LIBRARY.

From 2nd January to 31st December, 1888, the total number of publications issued in connection with the Survey, including Annual Reports, parts of ditto, Special Reports and maps, has been 9,992. Of these, 6,567 were distributed in Canada, the remainder were sent to foreign countries, including Great Britain and Ireland, the Continent of Europe, the United States, South America, India, China, Japan, Australia, &c.

The number of reports in French distributed was 502.

There were received during the past year, as exchanges, 2,000 publications, including reports, transactions, proceedings, memoirs, periodicals, pamphlets and maps. Besides these, 56 publications were purchased and 40 scientific periodicals sub

scribed for.

There were 150 volumes bound during the year. The number of letters received relating to library matters was 1,927. The letters sent out by the Librarian were 1,119. There are now in the library about 7,500 volumes and 2,600 pamphlets.

VISITORS.

The number of visitors to the Museum during the year, from 1st of January to the 31st December, was 17,414, being a decrease of 161 as compared with the previous year.

In my summary report for 1885 I called attention to the question of opening the Museum on Sunday afternoons, and I then gave some very remarkable statistics of attendance, the result of this course having been adopted at the Australian Museum in Sydney, showing that on the 52 Sundays, afternoons only, the daily attendance. was largely in excess of that of the 313 week days, the average being 986 on Sundays and 275 on week days; such a fact needs no comment, and I venture again to express a hope, in the interests of education and knowledge, that the time is not remote when a similar experiment will be tried in Ottawa.

There will doubtless be strong objections urged against such action, based chiefly if not entirely on the very erroneous, but unfortunately very prevalent idea, that a museum is a place of amusement, whereas it is essentially as much a place of instruction as is the church and Sunday school; and the principal difference between the two, concisely stated, is, that in the Museum the work, and in the church and school the word, of the Creator is expounded. This admitted, there seems no obvious or intelligible reason why the one establishment should be closed and the other opened on the Sabbath.

STAFF, APPROPRIATION, EXPENDITURE AND CORRESPONDENCE.

The strength of the staff at present employed is 53, viz., professional 35, ordinary 17.

During the calendar year Messrs. Robert Chalmers and William McInnes were appointed as field geologists to the permanent staff, and the following promotions were made:

Professor John Macoun, from the 1st Class to Assistant Director.
Mr. Chas. W. Willimott, from the 3rd Class to 2nd Class.

The amount available for the fiscal year ended 30th June, 1888, was:—

Civil List Appropriation.......

General Purpose Appropriation.......

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The expenditure may be summarized under the divisions named as follow:-
Civil List Salaries..

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967 48 324 87 1,294 12

1,733 12

100,472 36

3,930 44

96,541 92
3,479 42

100,021 34
2,321 18

55 91

102,398 43 102,398 43

The correspondence of the branch shows a total of 7,662 letters sent, and 6,564 received, from 1st January to 31st December, 1888.

In conclusion I may again call attention to the inadaquate Museum accommodation, referred to in previous reports, in the hope that some steps will be speedily taken to obviate this difficulty, which is constantly increased by the large annual additions now being made to the collections.

To raise the roof of the building and make a wide gallery around the upper flat supported with iron pillars, would be the least costly plan, and while much improving the external appearance of the building, would afford all the accommodation needed for some time to come.

I have the honor to be, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

ALFRED R. C. SELWYN,

15-4***

Director.

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