REPOET OF ISrATIOISTAL MUSEUM, 1921. 63 



and placing of the larger specimens in separate containers had to be 

 suspended toward the end of the year on account of lack of suitable 

 jars. A considerable number of older skeletons were cleaned by 

 the preparators, but have not as yet been card catalogued and dis- 

 tributed. 



In the division of reptiles, the regular routine work of caring for 

 the specimens has continued without interruption and the cata- 

 loguing brought up to date. The card cataloguing which had to 

 be suspended for some time was resumed, arrangement being made 

 for having part of the work done in the head curator's office. All 

 the dry turtle material has now been transferred to the third story 

 and placed in metal-covered quarter unit cases. 



Similarly, in the division of fishes the collections have been regu- 

 larly inspected, the containers refilled or changed when necessary, 

 jars and shelves cleaned, labels restored, and much of the older 

 undetermined material named and installed. 



In the division of insects substantial progress has been made 

 in the care of the collections, especially' in introducing the tray 

 system. Inability to obtain a sufficient number of drawers has been 

 the limiting factor in this work. The associate curator reports that 

 the collections, as a whole, are in as good condition as in any large 

 modern museum, the loss from museum pests being exceptionally 

 small, due to the excellent system of cabinets and drawers adopted. 



The overhauling and putting in good order of the various lots of 

 material in the alcoholic storage of the division of marine inverte- 

 brates has about kept pace with the requirements of the collection. 

 Further sorting of miscellaneous lots of unidentified material into 

 various major groups of invertebrates has been done. Only recently 

 the sorting of the rather comprehensive collections of the Fish Hawk 

 in Chesapeake Bay has been completed. Coincident with the great 

 arrearages in cataloguing, there is considerable named material on 

 hand waiting to be incorporated in the regular study series. Eevi- 

 sion of the collection of brachyuran crustaceans is being carried 

 along with Miss M. J. Rathbun's monographic reports, and the rear- 

 rangement of the entire alcoholic collections begun during the past 

 fiscal year is being continued as time permits. Doctor Bassler, of 

 the department of geology, in connection with his studies of the 

 Bryozoa, is working up the greater part of the recent unnamed mate- 

 rial and rearranging the entire collection of these forms. 



From the division of mollusks the report is that the usual routine 

 of naming, labeling, cataloguing, and putting in place in the series 

 has been carried on as in former years. The arrangement and re- 

 installation of the west Atlantic Pelecypods has been completed. 

 The west Atlantic mollusks are now arranged according to latest 

 classifications and nomenclature and large quantities of new ma- 



7130.j°— 21 5 



