30 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1913. 



culties and the few species so far included in the series are illustrated 

 by means of casts and models. 



Domestic animals. — A full demonstration of all the races of ani- 

 mals that have been produced by domestication would require a 

 veiy much greater extent of floor space than could be spared for 

 that subject, and such a display, moreover, is not mthin the purpose 

 of the Museum exhibition. In an area of about 2,640 square feet 

 adjoming the systematic series, however, an attempt is being made 

 to illustrate some of the more remarkable results of man's inter- 

 ference \v\i\i the natural evolution of animals, though even within 

 the limitation fixed the series is still very incomplete. The collection 

 includes a number of skeletons designed to show that the modifica- 

 tions following domestication are not solety confined to external 

 characters, and specimens of the wild stock where such is known 

 have been or will be introduced. 



Among birds the domestic fowl is most prominently represented, 

 many breeds, though not nearly all that are recognized by fanciers, 

 being exhibited. Though prepared several years ago and requiring 

 to be ampHfied, the collection as it is furnishes a good idea of the 

 range of variation that has been produced, and includes many 

 specimens that were awarded premiums at important shows. It is 

 partly installed in a group arrangement with surroundings in imita- 

 tion of a barnyard, and partly as individual specimens on shelves. 

 The turkey and peafowl are also represented, as are many breeds 

 of the common pigeon, the latter being centered about a dovecot. 

 Of mammals comparatively few forms are at present shown, among 

 these being the horse, dog, sheep, goat, two forms of Asiatic cattle, 

 namely, the yak and the zebu or Indian ox, and three representatives 

 of the camel family, the llama, the alpaca and the Arabian camel. 



Fauna of the District of Columbia. — The local faunal exhibit, the 

 last of the regular biological series, still only in process of formation, 

 is allotted 1,724 square feet of floor space at the eastern end of the 

 northern section of the west range, where it adjoms the north wmg. 

 It is planned to make this collection of particular mterest to the 

 local students of biology and an important aid to the teaching of 

 zoology in the District schools. Every species of animal living in 

 the District of Columbia is intended to be represented by at least a 

 single specimen, and also such former habitants, as the game birds, 

 which have been driven from the region through the agency of man. 

 The groups in which more or less progress has already been made are 

 the mammals, birds, reptiles and batrachians, fishes and mollusks. 



Special exhibits. — For the special zoological features provision has 

 been made in the space mten^'ening between the row of large rectan- 

 gular piers and the court walls in the second story of the west range. 

 Measuring about 17^ feet wide, this space is divided by the piers into 



