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since I first made acquaintance with it, up to July 1, 1885 the total number of entries was 42,440; or much less than three times as many as have been attended to in the single year just closed.

During the past year we have closed up all vacancies in the catalogue arising from whatever causes except those where numbers have been reserved for Prof. Verrill for use in connection with the Fish Commission collection temporarily at New Haven. In future therefore the schedule of entries given in the Appendix to this report will probably be much less complicated. The last number actually used in 1886 was 64,005, but the full schedule is comprised in Appendix [[strikethrough]]D[[/strikethrough]] C.

As explained above and in previous reports a categorical enumeration of the material, reserve and duplicate, in the custody of this department is at present impracticable and even an estimate, must necessarily be of a very approximate nature. 

The need of intelligent clerical assistance in this department is greater than ever since the disablement of our most efficient clerk by illness, the termination of which cannot yet be predicted. 

I remain very respectfully

Wm. H. Dall
Paleontologist U.S. Geol. Survey Hon. Curator of Mollusks U.S. Nat. Mus.