NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUMS 127 



lection of about 50 species illustrating- the work of gall insects, 

 and a general idea of the class Insecta may be gained from a 

 small systematic collection of over 600 species and representing 

 most of the important groups. In addition there are small 

 collections in Denton tablets illustrating protective mimicry and 

 some of our more beautiful native butterflies and moths, and a 

 technical collection of 60 different articles illustrates the 

 methods of collecting and preserving insects. Another col- 

 lection representing the principal differences between the com- 

 mon, malarial and j^ellow fever mosquitos is on exhibition and 

 small collections illustrating the species commonly occurring 

 in spring, summer and fall and those of interest on account of 

 unusual form, size or other characters are exhibited for the 

 convenience of teachers and their pupils. 



Botany. The space in Geological Hall assigned to the botanic 

 department is on the second floor in the southern extension of 

 the building. It is divided into two rooms. The front room 

 is used for exhibition purposes and contains sections of the 

 trunks of 75 of the trees native to New York, which are cut to 

 show the vertical, transverse and tangential sections, one half 

 of each section being polished and the other being left unfinished 

 in order to give an idea of the appearance of the wood. There 

 are also some specimens of historic interest and specimens 

 showing various forms of injuries to trees and their natural 

 repair. Photographs of trees and thin sections of their wood are 

 exhibited in swinging frames, supported by upright standards; 

 a collection of edible and poisonous mushrooms and an economic 

 collection are show^n in table cases. The rear room contains 

 the office of the botanist, the librarv, the herbarium and work- 

 shop. 



The herbarium contains about 1)000 sheets of Xew^ York plants 

 excluding fungi, 10,000 fungi and 25,000 sheets of extralimital 

 species and duplicates. 



Ethnology. A large collection of material pertaining almost 

 entirely to the Indian tribes of the state, including masks, pot- 

 tery, arrowheads, spearheads, amulets, scrapers, clothing, cradle 

 frames, etc., is on exhibition on the fourth floor of the capitol. 



The museum has also a fine collection of wampum belts. 



