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[[embossed image of flying bird]]

49

[[underlined]] 1870-1880 [[/underlined]]

During this decade there was no decrease in the donations made by private individuals, and the officers of numerous bureaus of the various executive departments of the government continued to make and transmit collections, which if not so extensive as in former years, were still of much interest and importance.  The collections, however, which more than any others [[strikethrough]] mark n [[/strikethrough]] contributed to the real growth of the department at this time, were those of the three great geological surveys of the territories.

Even in the last decade, as already [[strikethrough]] stated [[/strikethrough]] indicated, the collections from this source [[strikethrough]] were [[/strikethrough]] began to assume importance, while [[strikethrough]] on [[/strikethrough]] during the period under consideration they outranked all the rest and became a distinctive feature.  The species most assiduously brought together were the smaller [[strikethrough]] forms [[/strikethrough]] ones, and especially the rodents and insectivores.  The former, with the specimens already in the museum [[strikethrough]] based [[/strikethrough]]