72 REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1913. 



engaged for nearly two years. The latter is believed to represent the 

 highest development of taxidermy either in this country or abroad, 

 not only in the artistic grouping, the well-balanced design, and the 

 truthful modeling of the animals themselves, but also in the masterly 

 treatment of the accessories. Moreover, by resorting to a new tech- 

 nique in mountmg the dry skin on the manikin, it is believed that a 

 degree of permanency has been secured which was impossible by the 

 older methods. 



A beginning was naade in transferring the bird groups into new 

 all-glass top or mahogany frame cases, and the opportunity thus 

 afforded was utilized for repairing and otherwise improving the 

 exhibits. By a change in the arrangement of the general cases in 

 which the birds are displayed it has been possible to locate these 

 groups to better advantage and to increase the effectiveness of the 

 hall. Forty-eight birds were mounted and a number remodeled for 

 the exhibition series by Mr. N. R. Wood. 



The outer end of the west wing on the second floor was opened to 

 the public early in March, this having been rendered feasible by the 

 rapid progress made in repairing and remounting the several hmi- 

 dred plaster casts of American fishes which now occupy the wall cases 

 and some of the floor cases in that space. The old standards and 

 bases formerly used for them were entirely discarded, and the casts 

 fastened directly on the backs of the cases, except those of the flat- 

 fishes, which are placed horizontally on sandy bottoms in table cases. 

 Though the amount of work involved in restormg this material, 

 mainly performed by Mr. William Palmer, was very great, it is fidly 

 justified by the results, and in its present condition the collection is 

 as attractive as it is interesting and instructive. Under the direction 

 of Dr. Paul Bartsch, considerable advancement was made with the 

 installation of marine invertebrates in the south hall of the second 

 floor, a large number of specimens having been prepared and colored, 

 and the arrangement of the fauna north of Cape Cod tentatively 

 completed. 



The greater part of the systematic series of animals and the faunal 

 series of the District of Columbia were transferred to new cases. In 

 the osteological hall three new cases were added, namely, a large 

 wall case containing a comparative exhibit of the limbs of verte- 

 brates; a table case containing articulated and disarticulated skele- 

 tons of the various classes of vertebrates; and another of the same 

 kind in which the chemical constituents of the animal body are illus- 

 trated. A new and striking feature introduced among the exhibits 

 consists of 19 greatly enlarged models of the heads of as many difl'erent 

 kinds of bats, done in wax by Mr. E. E. Hannan and afterwards cast 

 in plaster, which serve to bring out clearly the peculiar physiognomy 

 of these small mammals. 



