Jan., 1922. Annual Report of the Director. 37 



Red Fox in a woodland setting pausing before a log and listening to 

 several mice which are quarreling beneath it. Another shows a 

 winter scene with a Horned Owl pouncing upon a rabbit and a third 

 displays various species of Birds of Paradise. Although considerable 

 preparation had been made before removal from the old building, 

 it was found necessary in installing the exhibit of fishes to make 

 what was practically a new exhibit with almost complete rearrange- 

 ment. Much of the material was poorly mounted or poorly colored 

 after mounting. Some of this was discarded and the rest repaired 

 and refinished. After the opening of the Museum, work was continued 

 on the fish exhibit and altogether thirty new mounts have been pre- 

 pared, twenty-eight repaired or remade, and thirty-eight casts made 

 and colored. In this work a new method was employed to a large 

 extent involving the use of a cast of the body of the fish combined 

 with the real fin and tail. This method has proved expeditious and has 

 given very satisfactory results in all cases where fresh specimens 

 have been available for use as models. The reptile exhibit, which had 

 never been large was reduced by the elimination of imperfect and 

 unworthy specimens to a total of three cases. In one is a single 

 large alligator; another is devoted principally to turtles; and the 

 third contains miscellaneous snakes and lizards. Preparations have 

 been made for the improvement of this exhibit and a number of 

 additional specimens have been prepared. Many snakes and nearly 

 all frogs cannot be prepared satisfactorily by the usual methods and 

 the specimens heretofore shown have been far from pleasing or real- 

 istic. To overcome this the taxidermist has perfected a method by 

 which these animals may be reproduced in celluloid so as to give an 

 exceedingly lifelike appearance, far superior to anything accom- 

 plished by previous methods. Work has already been completed on 

 models of two frogs, one soft-shelled turtle, and four snakes and 

 progress made on a number of others. During the first half of 

 the year the Associate Curator was occupied continuously with the 

 tedious and exacting task of reinstalling the exhibit of inverte- 

 brates, including the very large collection of shells, some 1,200 

 units of which were provided with new labels. For Stanley Field 

 Hall, a new installation was prepared in a wall case showing some 

 of the more interesting invertebrates, such as sponges, jelly-fishes, 

 corals, star-fishes, sea-urchins, and a series of beautiful and useful 

 shells. Later in the year considerable time was devoted to finishing 

 a new case containing two habitat groups of insects. One of these 

 groups represents a scene in the dune region near Miller, Indiana, 

 and shows the characteristic insects of that region. The other illus- 



