rare insectivorous mammal from Cuba, only five or six oth- 

 ers having found their way to the Museums of Europe and 

 America. 



Just now the staff is engaged in an effort to identify the 

 specimens figured by Audubon in his classic work on Ameri- 

 can ornithology. Trays of headless, tailless, moth-eaten birds 

 have been gathered from the dark corners to be compared 

 with published plates, while labels must be sent to all parts 

 of the country for identification of handwriting. Undescribed 

 shells, type specimens of plants and fossils have been recov- 

 ered and much is yet to be done. Old jars of fishes and 

 reptiles remain to be searched for Holbrook's types, Audu- 

 bon and Bachman mammals remain to be traced, herbaria to 

 be revised, and the records of specimens received through 

 the Elliott Society made straight. It sometimes takes days 

 or weeks to complete the record of a single specimen — such 

 is the price of neglect! 



More than four thousand specimens have been worked up, 

 permanently numbered, and cataloged in the past two years. 

 This is the explanation of the slow progress in preparing ex- 

 hibits and since our present quarters have no store-rooms and 

 workrooms it has even been necessary to use Manigault Hall 

 for these purposes and to restrict its use as a lecture room in 

 consequence. We trust that friends of the Museum will re- 

 joice with us that this revision of the collections has not come 

 too late to restore much of the original value of the oldest 

 Museum in America, and will realize that the foundation is 

 being laid for exhibits of the future. 



The story of the work which is necessary to prepare ex- 

 hibits after the study series is in order, is reserved for a later 

 article. 



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