Agassiz Museum.

The recent addition of a section to the University Museum brings to light more widely than ever the remarkable growth of this department of Harvard under the guidance of the present curator, Alexander Agassiz, LL. D. It is since Mr. Agassiz's appointment in 1874 that the Museum has been most rapidly enlarged both in buildings and connections. Under his curatorship, also, the Museum of Comparative Zoology has been so arranged and remodelled as to leave to Mr. Agassiz's successor, should he resign, as he at present intends, a thoroughly manageable institution with a distinct policy and an income adequate for the normal expenses, including expenditures for research and publication.

During the last year alone research has been carried on in many directions. Although the curator was not able, owing to the uncertainty of his movement, to carry on the usual researches at the Newport laboratory, still several representatives of the Museum availed themselves of the privileges of the Government Fish Commission station at Wood's Holl. Considerable material for special research was sent to several well-known scholars of zoology, and a few exchanges were effected.

The principal accessions to the Museum were exchanges with the Stockholm and British Museums and gifts from the Smithsonian Institute. The Hume collection of Indian birds selected for the Museum by the British Museum reached Cambridge in excellent condition, and proved by far the most valuable acquisition of the year. The condition of the various c?????????????ections continue to improve, and many empty places have been filled. The arrangements of the Palaeontological Exhibition, however, is now at a standstill, owing to a lack of funds. The collection of fossils is very valuable, and it seems a great pity that it should not be open to public inspection.

The publications of the Museum the past year have been very numerous. Among other works, Dr. Agassiz has given out two volumes on the "Cruise of the Blake," and one volume of Prof. Ernst Ehler's "Deep Sea Florida Annelids" has gone to press. This last work has been long expected, and is said to be the most exhaustive treatment of the subject yet written.

It was a source of great disappointment to Mr. Agassiz that he was unable to join the ship "Albatross" of the U. S. Fish Commission and investigate the fauna of the western coast of Panama, as he had previously that of the eastern coast. The commander of the "Albatross" was kind enough to allow Dr. Agassiz to avail himself of a large part of the ship's collection so that he might compare the fauna of the western and eastern coasts of the Isthmus.

This, and much more too technical to mention, has been the work of the Musem the past year. It is unfortunate that the greater part is of too technical a nature to prove attractive to the average student.