1918.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 351 



gratulate themselves upon having been able to maintain the usual 

 Museum activities without any detriment to the collections or their 

 arrangement during these trying times. 



Early in the summer a competent steam engineer was engaged to 

 examine the entire heating plant and to draw up plans for remedy- 

 ing serious defects in the present system as well as for the installa- 

 tion of new boilers. We were fortunate enough to secure two 

 Spencer boilers, which have been placed in the engine house and 

 have already proved very satisfactory, although some of the repip- 

 ing is still unfinished. The expense of these important improve- 

 ments is covered by an appropriation made at the last session of the 

 State Legislature and referred to in our last report. 



The falling of certain sections of plaster ceiling has necessitated 

 the removal of all the ceiling covering in the mineralogical hall, with 

 the intention of substituting a sheet metal ceiling at the earliest 

 opportunity. 



Additional exhibits have been added to the collection of native 

 trees, to the local collection of birds and nests presented by the 

 Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, to the Clarence B. Moore 

 collection of Indian antiquities and to the William S. Vaux collec- 

 tion of minerals. 



Numerous classes of school-children have visited the Museum 

 during the year and various duplicate specimens, especially sets of 

 labelled minerals, have been presented to schools in Philadelphia and 

 vicinity. 



During the year Dr. Skinner made some important entomological 

 collections in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. 



Dr. Stone spent several weeks in making an exhaustive collection 



of the flora of southern Cape May County, N. J., and some local 



field work was carried on by other members of the Museum staff. 



Mr. Clarence B, Moore has also continued his explorations of the 



Indian mounds of the Southern States and presented the Academy 



with valuable material. Details of work in the several departments 



follow. 



Mammals. 



A number of valuable specimens received from the Zoological 

 Society of Philadelphia have been prepared as skins or skeletons, 

 while a large number of skeletons and skulls previously prepared in 

 the rough have been macerated, numbered and placed in the study 

 series. This work was carried on by the taxidermist, Mr. David 

 McCadden. Besides entering accessions the entire register of the 



