the generosity of the Duke of Loubat and contributions made by the president of the museum and the Messrs. Hyde, the museum came into the possession of a very large amount of material illustrating the culture of ancient Mexico. Another exhibit worthy of note is that of a portion of the material obtained during the researches in the Delaware which have been carried on for more than twenty years. It seems to show that man was in the valley of the Delaware at the time that certain of the glacial deposits and those immediately following were made. The year was signalized by the conclusion of the explorations of Messrs. Bogoras and Jochelson, on account of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, and their return to the museum with vast quantities of ethnological material. The expedition has covered the whole district from Columbia River in America westward to the Lena in Siberia, and it is already evident that the relationship between Asia and America is much closer than had hitherto been supposed. The Huntington California Expedition and the North American Research Expedition were continued in 1902, and much information gained in regard to certain of the native races of America. The east Asiatic work of the Expedition to China promises important scientific results. The Hyde Expedition carried on work in the southwest and in northern Mexico. The results of the work of the Mexican Expedition throw much light on the burial customs of the ancient Zapotecans, and the collections obtained add materially to the importance of the collection in the museum. Rare specimens of gold, copper and jadeite secured by the expedition, added to those already in the museum, make this part of the Mexican collection the best in any museum. From the Duke of Loubat the museum received a gem collection of great importance from the state of Oaxaca. Local explorations were carried on in the Shinnecock and Poosepatuck reservations on Long Island and Staten Island and at Shinnecock Hills.
Several additions were made during the year to the gem collection, in the Department of Mineralogy, namely, five magnificent crusts of amethyst, a large yellow sapphire, two parti-colored sapphires, an immense star sapjihire, and a curious archaic axe of agate, gifts of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan. A splendid collection of gold and silver coins from the Philadelphia mint, the gift of Mr. Morgan, was placed in the gem room.
The Department of Invertebrate Zoology received an important accession in a collection of West Indian corals, actinians and alcyonarians collected in Jamaica. The New York Zoological Society and the Department of Parks were the principal donors of reptiles and batrachians.
A section of one of the giant trees of California has been placed on exhibition and attracts considerable attention. The tree from which the section was cut was 1,341 years old; it was almost 30 feet in diameter at the base, and had reached a height of 300 feet. Cards indicating the discoveries in biology during the life of the tree have been attached to the mounted section.
In the Department of Entomology, the Hoffmann collection of butterflies was transferred to the new cases, and the Schauss collection of moths provisionally arranged. From the Black Mountains of North Carolina, 7,000 specimens were obtained for this department. The death of the Very Reverend Eugene A. Hoffmann, D.D., LL.D., removed a warm friend of the museum and a substantial support from the Department of Entomology.
The publications of the scientific results attending the investigations of the museum in various lines progressed during the year. Two numbers of the 'Memoirs' were issued, namely 'Kwa-
