sketches, delicately colored backgrounds, and short labels were used 

 along with some specimens to tell a story and to illustrate particular 

 ideas. 



As a result of an increasing interest on the part of Museum 

 visitors in the various parts of the world where American forces are 

 or have been fighting, a special exhibit called Peoples of Our War 

 Areas was organized by Curators Collier and Quimby. Representa- 

 tive cases of material from Melanesia, Australia, North Africa and 

 Alaska were selected and installed in the west half of James Nelson 

 and Anna Louise Raymond Hall (Hall 4). In order to make room 

 for this exhibit, the Eastern Woodland Indian cases in the hall were 

 spaced more closely so as to fit into the east half. 



For a period in October, a temporary exhibit of United States 

 Marine Corps photographs depicting combat scenes in the Solomon 

 Islands was displayed in the Melanesian section of Peoples of Our 

 War Areas. 



Department of Botany 



Research . . . 



In addition to the current work of determinations and care of 

 the herbarium of flowering plants, research on the plants resulting 

 from the Guatemalan expeditions of the five preceding years was 

 continued throughout 1943 by Mr. Paul C. Standley, Curator of 

 the Herbarium, and by Dr. Julian A. Steyermark, Assistant Curator, 

 during the early months of the year. 



Research on algae was continued by Dr. Francis Drouet, Curator 

 of Cryptogamic Botany, especially on the classification of the 

 Chroococcaceae and Oscillatoriaceae, partly in collaboration with 

 Mr. William A. Daily of the herbarium of Butler University, Indi- 

 anapolis. Mr. and Mrs. Daily, Mr. Donald Richards, volunteer 

 assistant, Mr. J. C. Strickland of the University of Georgia, and 

 Mr. Harry K. Phinney of Northwestern University made consider- 

 able use of the Museum's collections of algae and bryophytes in their 

 own studies. 



Several members of the staff were away during the year. Mr. J. 

 Francis Macbride, Associate Curator of the Herbarium, spent the 

 year in California on leave of absence. Mr. Llewelyn Williams, 

 Curator of Economic Botany, was engaged in emergency work for 

 the United States government in Venezuela. Dr. Julian A. Steyer- 

 mark, Assistant Curator of the Herbarium, was engaged in similar 



