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but, not withstanding all this, the material was unusually rich and important, and for that day unparalleled. 

In 1859 Dr. Philip Pearsall Carpenter of Warrington, England, a distinguished student of Mollusks, was engaged to put the collection of shells in order. The task, at first supposed to require but a few months, needed years to complete, during which time large quantities of the material was taken to England and identified from the Cumingian Collection. [[strikethrough]], then the finest in the world. Mr. Hugh Cuming the collector gave much time and labor to the identification of the species. [[/strikethrough]] Dr. Stimpson's unique collection of Mollusca, of the atlantic coast of the United States, was acquired by the museum in this year. 

Dr. Carpenter gave several valuable lectures on Mollusca at the Institution and suggested the series of check lists of species belonging to the United States fauna, which have been of so much use to collectors and in stimulating investigation. Though not continuously employed and bearing no official title, he is fairly entitled to the denomination of the first Curator of Mollusks in the National Collection, as he was the first person employed solely with reference to that department of biology. 

The most distinguished conchologists of the day, Isaac Lea, [[strikethrough]] W. G. Amos [[/strikethrough]]  W. G. Binney, A. A. Gould, William Stimpson, John G. Anthony, Wesley Newcomb, James