DEPARTMENT REPORTS. 59 



RErORT OF THE CURATOR OF THE GENERAL MUSEUM. 



To the President: 



Sir — I have the honor to submit the following report of the condition 

 of the General Museum for the year ending June 30, 1900 : 



The collections in the main hall of the museum have undergone little 

 change since my report of a year ago, and most of these changes have 

 been for the better. I have to call attention to the fact, however, that 

 several of the large specimens which are not under glass, but exposed in 

 the open hall, have suffered noticeably from mutilation by visitors as 

 well as from the exposure to dust and museum pests. This is particularly 

 true of the large and small grizzy bears, and the elephant skeleton, 

 and in a lesser degree of the Glyptodon cast and the head of the Elephas 

 ganesa. Several of the claws ha.ve been torn off the bears, the elephant 

 skeleton has been disfigured b}' the writing of names on the bones, and 

 the plaster casts have been marred in a similar way and by scratching 

 and boring with pen-knives, apparently in the attempt to discover their 

 composition. A still more annoying piece of vandalism is the writing of 

 names, dates or mere scrawls on the glass doors of the cases them- 

 selves, necessitating in some cases the replacing of the large panes. 

 ►Probably few if any of these acts can be attributed to the students 

 of the College; they are new to the history of the museum and are per- 

 petrated doubtless by irresponsible persons who take advantage of the 

 crowds which throng the place during the annual excursions or slip in 

 unnoticed at other times. It is absolutely necessary that all specimens 

 bearing hair or feathers should be placed within insect-proof cases, 

 and the same should be done with the skeletons. The only alternative 

 would be to close the museum except at times when an attendant could 

 be kept on the watch, which would seriousl}^ limit the usefulness of the 

 collections, and would be a hardship to a very great majority- of the 

 visitors to the College. 



During the year the bird collection has been carefully overhauled and 

 catalogued, this being the first work on a general card catalogue of the 

 entire museum collection. The mammals have been carefully examined 

 also, and all infested specimens have been treated. The additions to the 

 museum were not so numerous as usual, perhaps, during the year, but 

 the collections have made steady growth, particularly^ in much-needed 

 local specimens. Thus mounted specimens of seven species of ^lichigan 

 birds new to our collection have been added, and we have also collected 

 many salamanders, frogs, tortoises, snakes, etc. 



Among the more noteworthy accessions should be mentioned an un- 

 usually fine specimen of the Canada Ivnx. secured and donated by ^Mr. 

 Wm. ^r. Snell, of SauU Ste. Marie, and finely mounted by the late I'ercy 

 Selous of (ireenville; a paii- of fine seal-skin Esquimaux boots, from 

 Behring Straits. j)resented by Leon J. Cole; a fine golden eagle, purchased 

 alive and afterward mounted; a set of three Harvard g('()grai)liical 

 models, and a small but very accurate relief majt of the United States; 

 both the latter purchased especially for illustrating the work for the 

 class in physical geography. 



