REPOET OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1913. 71 



Antilles and Santo Domingo, besides a number of reptiles and batra- 

 chians. Mr. P. C. Standley, assistant curator of plants, collected 

 while on leave in Missouri about 1,000 specimens of plants, which he 

 presented to the Museum. 



Collecting work in the vicinity of Washington, mainly for fishes, 

 though some invertebrates were also obtained, was carried on from 

 time to time by members of the staff, without expense to the Museum. 

 It was mainly confuied to the Potomac River and its tributaries from 

 Plummer's Island to Mattawoman Creek, to branches of the Patuxent 

 River, and to Chesapeake Bay several miles south of Chesapeake 

 Beach. Those who participated in these trips were Mr. Barton A. 

 Bean, Mr. William Palmer, Mr. A. C. Weed, and Mr. Ernest B. 

 Marshall. 



Exhibition collections. — The preparators of the department were 

 chiefly occupied during the year in mounting specimens for and 

 arranging the exhibition collections. The American mammals, the 

 marine invertebrates, and certain osteological material, which had 

 remained in the older buildings, were, with the exception of several 

 whale skeletons, transferred to and mainly reinstalled in the new 

 building. The most difficult part of this task consisted in dis- 

 mantling and reconstructing the two large groups of American bison 

 and moose. The moose group, which had been too greatly crowded, 

 was much improved by the removal of two specimens, but the bison 

 group was not changed. The other groups, namely, those of the 

 Rocky Mountain sheep and goats, the reindeer, antelope, and musk ox, 

 though not requirmg to be rebuilt, needed extensive repairs, which 

 was also true of many of the specimens moimted separately, and 

 notably the large Pacific walrus, the sea elephant, the California sea 

 lions, the manatee, and the dugong. The work connected with the 

 mammals was mostly done by Mr. George Marshall and Mr. C. E. 

 Mirguet, and that with the osteological specimens by Mr. J. W. 

 Scolhck. 



The African, oriental, and palearctic mammals were overhauled and 

 placed in the new cases provided for them. Owing to delay m 

 securing the accessories desired for the zebra-oryx group, a temporary 

 installation was effected which made it possible to exliibit this beau- 

 tiful example of the taxidermist's art at the formal openmg of the 

 mammal hall on April 22, 1913. For the same occasion the African 

 buffalo group was also temporarily arranged, and the fourth large 

 case, destined for the rhinoceros group, was filled with mdividual 

 specimens collected by the Smithsonian African Expedition. Sub- 

 sequently the buffalo group, a very effective piece of work by Mr. 

 George B. Tm^ner, chief taxidei-mist of the Museum, was perma- 

 nently installed, and near the end of the year, Mr. J. L. Clark, of New 

 York, completed the white rhuaoceros group, on which he had been 



