special interest from other institutions also were displayed. In No- 

 vember and December the centennial of the publication of Charles 

 Darwin's The Origin of Species was celebrated with a special exhibit 

 of Darwiniana in Stanley Field Hall (see page 25). In addition, 

 many new permanent exhibits were added in the Museum's four 

 departments — Anthropology, Botany, Geology, and Zoology (see 

 pages 51, 57, 65, and 76). 



The research collections of the Museum were also increased nota- 

 bly by the acquisition of the Fred Button Collection of mollusks, the 

 Dr. E. H. Taylor Collection of amphibians and reptiles, and a choice 

 collection of marine shells from Dr. Jeanne S. Schwengel. Generous 

 and valuable gifts from many other friends of the Museum are listed 

 at the end of this Report among the accessions that were received in 

 our scientific departments (see also pages 47, 54, 64, and 72). Of 

 unusual interest is a Maori tiki presented by Captain and Mrs. 

 A. W. F. Fuller (see page 43). The Museum is deeply indebted to 

 its friends whose generosity has added immeasurably to its collec- 

 tions and to its funds. 



As usual, the Museum carried on its full program of scientific 

 research and field work in various parts of the world. Expeditions 

 worked in the Belgian Congo, Panama, Nepal, the Philippines, 

 Malaya, Egypt, and Colombia and in the waters of the West Indies 

 as well as in the United States and Canada (see page 36). It is 

 significant that we now list most of these trips on our records as 

 "field trips" rather than as "expeditions." "Expedition" carries 

 with it the idea of long journeys and of finding a way over unknown 

 terrain, a concept now almost obsolete. On our field trips now 

 we can be rushed to the other side of the globe by airplane, we 

 can plan our investigations with the aid of good maps, and often 

 we can collaborate with resident naturalists. Though exploration 

 in a geographical sense is a thing of the past, we are still exploring 

 on the frontiers of knowledge, seeking new information about life 

 and its manifestations. Our unique function as a museum dictates 

 that much of our research must start with collecting specimens. 



Soundtrek, a system for radio-guided tours of exhibits, has been 

 installed in six exhibition halls. Similar systems have been in use 

 at the American Museum of Natural History (New York) and the 

 National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.) long enough to establish 

 the utility of the device as a means of making museum visits more 

 instructive and interesting for the individual. After several months 

 of trial and experimentation to overcome technical difficulties, an 

 operational multichannel system was attained at the end of the year. 

 Now it is possible for Museum visitors to rent a small portable radio 



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