to his previous African service. He thereupon again joined the 

 Raymond Foundation staff. 



Reports were received during the year of the continued success of 

 Museum men who had joined the armed forces prior to 1943. First 

 Lieutenant Melvin A. Traylor, of the United States Marine Corps 

 (Associate in Ornithology on the Museum staff) was awarded the 

 Silver Star for heroism at Guadalcanal. He also participated in the 

 Marines' assault on Tarawa, during which engagement he was 

 wounded severely enough to be returned to this country. Mr. 

 Rupert L. Wenzel, the Museum's Assistant Curator of Insects, was 

 promoted by the Army from the rank of First Lieutenant to Captain. 

 Mr. M. C. Darnall, Jr., a Museum guard, has risen since his enlist- 

 ment as a seaman in the Ignited States Coast Guard, first to a com- 

 mission as Ensign, and later to Lieutenant (j.g.). 



Noted with regret is the report that Lieutenant Don H. Eldredge, 

 formerly a volunteer assistant in invertebrate paleontology, has been 

 reported missing as the result of an action in which he served as 

 co-pilot on an American bomber in the European theatre of war. 



There were changes in the Museum personnel also for causes 

 other than war service. Mr. Alfred C. Weed, Curator of Fishes for 

 twenty-two years, retired on April 30 on the Museum's pension plan. 

 Mr. Weed has been materially responsible for the assemblage of the 

 Museum's extensive fish collections and the building up of exhibits, 

 particularly the recently opened Hall of Fishes (Hall 0). He con- 

 ducted a number of important expeditions, and the Museum pub- 

 lished many important technical works as the result of his researches 

 in ichthyology. 



The active services of Dr. Wilfred H. Osgood, Curator Emeritus 

 of Zoology, Dr. B. E. Dahlgren, Chief Curator of Botany, Mr. 

 William H. Corning, General Superintendent, and Mrs. Mary Baker, 

 Associate Librarian, all of whom have passed normal retirement 

 age, were continued at the request of the Board of Trustees. 



Mr. George I. Quimby, Jr., Assistant Curator of North American 

 Archaeology, was promoted to the rank of Curator of Exhibits in 

 the Department of Anthropology. 



Dr. Alfred E. Emerson, a professor in the Department of Zoology 

 at the University of Chicago, Dr. Charles H. Seevers, head of the 

 Department of Zoology at the Central YMCA College in Chicago, 

 and Mr. Alex K. Wyatt, a specialist in moths and butterflies, have 

 all been appointed to the staff of the Museum as Research Associates 

 in Entomology. They will aid in various research projects. 



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