DEPARTMENT REPORTS 43 



tical laboratory methods where the student handles, examines, sketches, 

 identifies, and dissects actual specimens, and such work cannot be car- 

 ried on to anvantage in large sections under single instructors. In for- 

 mer years it has been possible in the laboratory to give to each section 

 of twelve students the undivided attention of two instructors, but during 

 the past term two instructors were compelled to supervise the work in 

 entomology of 24 to 28 students in a section, with the inevitable result 

 that the work done was inferior to that of former years. In the dissec- 

 tion work of the second term of Physiology and Anatomy it was neces- 

 sary to divide the large class into five sections in order to insure anything 

 like thorough work, but since only one section at a time could be handled, 

 each student was compelled to lose (or to use at a great disadvantage) 

 four-fifths of the time allotted to laboratory work in that study. A single 

 additional assistant would do much to obviate these difliculties, and when 

 it is remembered that for all the work scheduled above and the additional 

 work entailed by the care of the insect collections and those of the general 

 museum only the time of a single professor and one-half the time of one 

 assistant is available, the request for an increased force does not seem 

 to me at all unreasonable; in fact, it should be clearly understood that 

 the lack of such assistance means simply a positive and marked lowering 

 of the standard of work done in Anatomy and Entomology. 



At the request of the State Board of Agriculture the department, dur- 

 ing April and May, prepared and placed in position about the College 

 grounds a large number of nesting boxes for wild birds, with the hope 

 that in this way several species of our most useful and desirable birds 

 might be induced to make their summer homes with us. Forty of the 

 single nesting-boxes, adapted for the use of bluebirds, wrens, nuthatches, 

 chickadees, and white-breasted swallows, were i)laced in favorable local- 

 ities and two large bird houses, one with 24 compartments and the other 

 with 50, have been prepared for colonies of swallows or purple martins. 

 These last two houses were finished too late to be occupied this season, 

 but several of the smaller boxes were at once occupied by wrens, and it is 

 hoped that others may be utilized by bluebirds for their second broods. 

 These birds have much to contend with on the campus, bluejays and red 

 squirrels being very numerous and aggressive, while the omnipresent 

 English sparrow is only kept in check by continual shooting and systemat- 

 ic discouragement of other kinds. Fortunately the birds are almost 

 exempt from human interference, the students and other residents of 

 the college giving them every protection possible. A more detailed re- 

 port of this experiment and its results will be published later. 



WALTER B. BARROWS. 



Agricultural College, Mich., 

 Jiilij 3, 1899. 



Professor of Zoology and Physiology. 



REPORT OF THE CURATOR OF THE GENERAL MUSEUM. 



To the President: 



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

 the General Museum for the past year: 



