198 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Ser. 



The department of paleontology has been very active. 

 Many additions to tiie collections liave been made and several 

 scientihc papers based on the department's collections have 

 been published or prepared. 



The curator and assistant curator of herpetology have the 

 immense collections of that department installed on shelving 

 and have done much toward increasing the collections. 



A few accessions have been received by the departments 

 of mammalogy and ornithology and a beginning has been made 

 with the department of invertebrate zoology. 



The curators and their assistants have been alert and effi- 

 cient in caring for the collections in their charge and their 

 earnestness and enthusiasm deserve and should receive the 

 encouragement of the community and of the entire Pacific 

 Coast. 



We may hope that the high class work that is being done, 

 of which some samples of educational value will soon be on 

 display, will attract the attention of the public, and will make 

 clear that ours is an institution for service worthy of generous 

 support by those whose means will permit. 



Our building will quickly be filled to capacity. We already 

 know that we will be short of space to display all that has 

 been collected and prepared for attractive educational ex- 

 hibits. 



The Academy's thanks are due, and I take pleasure in 

 expressing them, to those who are devoting of their lives to 

 the scientific and educational work under the Academy's guid- 

 ance and for which the Academy can provide only inadequate 

 compensation. 



The interest displayed in their work, combined with the 

 high order of skill, ability and talent possessed by those who 

 are installing the habitat groups in our Mammal and Bird halls, 

 may be accepted as an assurance that these exhibits will have 

 artistic merit ranking with the best that has yet been pro- 

 duced. 



The courtesy of the Mechanics Institute has made it possi- 

 ble to hold the Academy's stated monthly meetings since 

 August at the Mechanics Institute. Up to the present time the 

 Council has not deemed it wise to arrange for these meetings 

 in the Museum building, whose auditorium is not yet ready 



