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5

far as depositing in cases is concerned and as soon as the latter, now constructing, are in readiness, the collection will be arranged in them ready for examination and for use.

The arrangement of the forms belonging on our southern and southeastern coast, so long neglected and so important in connection with the later fossiliferous beds of our southern states, was undertaken by the Curator himself and a preliminary paper by him on some recently acquired material from that region appeared in the Proceedings of the Museum during the year. Incidentally it became necessary to determine some of the well known group of Cones and the entire collection belonging to that genus was carefully revised and is now in condition for satisfactory reference.

The intimate connection between our deep sea fauna and that of the tertiary beds of southern Europe and the southern and western borders of the United States is well known to geologists and naturalists. A good deal of the leisure of the Curator has been devoted to a study of the Gulf and Caribbean deep sea forms obtained by Prof. Alex. Agassiz on the steamer Blake, a large number of which are already drawn for the engraver and a considerable amount of text has accumulated. This fauna is intimately related to that of the formations of the Isthmuses of Panama and Nicaragua which separate the two oceans. Were it possible to obtain fuller series of the rocks and fossils from that region, a study of them would without doubt have an important bearing on the projects for piercing the rocky barrier which now stands in the way of commerce.