the staff has been aided in this work by several summer assistants, 

 a number of volunteer assistants, and three Antioch College students 

 (Miss Karin Krause, Miss Antoinette Martti, and Miss Jane Netting). 



The purchase of 31 large dustproof, lightproof steel cases for 

 filing study-specimens of mammals and birds allowed a slight expan- 

 sion of both collections. In the resulting rearrangement the bats 

 and the pigeons, parrots, plantain-eaters, and cuckoos were moved 

 to more satisfactory quarters. Tanner Dominick Villa and Assistant 

 Taxidermist Mario Villa prepared large and medium-sized mammal 

 skins for the study collection. Assistant Pearl Sonoda continued the 

 rearrangement, begun last year, of the fish collection. 



In the Division of Insects there was great activity in handling 

 our large recently acquired collections. Associate Nelson rearranged 

 the entire beetle collection to conform to a modern system of classi- 

 fication and to provide space for expansion. The transfer and 

 integration of the Knirsch collections of palearctic beetles (50,748 

 specimens), begun in 1957, and the Knirsch and Benesh collections 

 of stag beetles (Lucanidae, 10,000 specimens) were completed, and 

 transfer and integration of the Knirsch collection of cetoniid beetles 

 (30,000 specimens) and the Brancsik world collections of beetles 

 (74,467 specimens) were begun. There were combined operations 

 in which Assistant August Ziemer and Associate Nelson, as well 

 as other members of the staff, summer assistants, and volunteer 

 assistants, took part. Curator Emeritus Gerhard had almost com- 

 pleted before his death the reorganization of the Orthoptera col- 

 lections (katydids, grasshoppers, and others). Research Associate 

 Seevers rearranged much of the Bernhauer Collection of rove beetles 

 (Staphylinidae). Research Associate Alex K. Wyatt continued to 

 identify and reorganize the North American butterflies and moths 

 and to incorporate his own collection with that of the Museum. 



The extremely large accessions of mollusks of the past two 

 years have resulted in a tremendous backlog of cataloguing and 

 labeling. Curator Haas has spent most of the year in this routine 

 work, handling about 10,000 sets of shells (75,000 specimens), while 

 Assistant Curator Solem prepared some 4,000 sets of shells for 

 cataloguing. 



Osteologist Sophie Andris has made good headway with pro- 

 viding cleaned skulls (1,100 mammal skulls) to meet the needs of 

 the Division of Mammals and also prepared 43 skeletons, although 

 there is a considerable number of skeletons yet to be cleaned for the 

 Division of Vertebrate Anatomy. Assistant Phyllis Wade carried 

 on much of the routine care of the collection in the Division of 

 Vertebrate Anatomy and made illustrations for Curator Davis. 



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