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32

Historical Notice. 

General Review. When the National Museum became the depository for all specimens of natural history obtained by the government surveys, the first collections to pass into its keeping consisted in large part of the magnificent series of corals, crustaceans, mollusks and other marine invertebrates, brought home by the Wilkes United States Exploring Expedition around the world from 1838 to 1842. Many of these specimens are still preserved in the Museum, and among them are some of the most conspicuous and interesting features of the department at the present time. In 1853, a second great oceanic expedition set sail from this country, and its explorations covering a period of three years extended over many interesting regions in which the marine faunae were carefully studied