Jan., 1919. Annual Report of the Director. 249 



specimens and some apparatus. Careful records of the contents of each 

 box have been made and each box has been marked in such a way as to 

 secure its identification for unpacking and delivery at its appropriate 

 destination in the new building. The record of the material packed 

 during the year is as follows: Invertebrate fossils, 87 boxes; large field 

 specimens of vertebrate fossils, 58 boxes; smaller vertebrate fossils, 

 48 boxes; lithology specimens, 27 boxes; ores, 67 boxes; apparatus and 

 miscellaneous, 22 boxes and 22 barrels; relief maps, 10 boxes, making 

 a total of 331 barrels and boxes. 



In the Department of Zoology the work of the year has been largely 

 directed to matters looking toward removal to new quarters. This has 

 involved some rearrangement of specimens, some elimination of un- 

 desirable material, considerable planning and estimating and actual 

 packing. The usual care in preventing damage to specimens from insects 

 has been exercised. The skin dresser has been occupied chiefly in 

 preparing skins of large mammals which have been in the possession of 

 the Museum for a number of years but which, owing to pressure of 

 other work, have remained in the raw state. These were found in good 

 condition. Recently obtained skins, principally from South America, 

 also were dressed for permanent preservation or for mounting. Plans 

 for moving specimens of mammals and birds have been made by which 

 the majority of such specimens will be packed in the storage cases where 

 they are now kept and thus they may remain accessible until shortly 

 before the actual time of moving. Considerable progress has been made 

 in packing other material. In Taxidermy, a large number of casts and 

 material for preparing bird and mammal groups has been boxed or 

 crated and similar material not required for immediate use, including 

 field equipment, etc., has also been packed. The collection of leg bones 

 of large mammals reserved for mounting has been reassorted, relabeled, 

 and packed after the elimination of duplicate or unnecessary specimens. 

 Revision of the synoptic exhibit of mammals has continued and a 

 number of specimens have been provided with new bases, while a few 

 others have been set aside for remounting. A large mounted elephant 

 seal was discarded. A group of the common Ruffed Grouse or "part- 

 ridge" of the Northeastern United States was installed, completing a 

 four-section case of local bird groups. It shows a pair of old birds and 

 their nest under a log, the old female just leaving her eggs in fright at 

 a raccoon which is approaching. A painted background shows a scene 

 from the Forest of Arden near Joliet, Illinois, and the foreground shows 

 an attractive reproduction of characteristic shrubs and smaller plants. 

 The following four groups are now included in this, the latest of the 

 four-section bird cases: Winter Bird of Lake Michigan; Bird Life of 



