EEPOET OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1914. 97 



as Apodemus praetor; and an important gap in the palearctic series 

 was filled by the purchase of a specimen of the Chinese so-called 

 " horse-tail " deer, Elaphurus davidianus, which will soon be mounted 

 for exhibition. A notable gift from Dr. Enrico Festa consisted of a 

 deer, Cervus corsicanus, and a wild boar, /Sus merldlonalis, from the 

 island of Sardinia. The African collection was increased by a num- 

 ber of specimens obtained b}' Dr. Y. Schiick in northern Zululand, 

 and by Mr. H. J. A. Turner in British East Africa, among the latter 

 being types of several new forms. Mr. C. T. Summerson presented 

 specimens from Alaska, including two skulls of Dall's sheep, and 

 Mr. F. D. Ward donated a complete specimen of the dugong pre- 

 served in formalin. 



The tanning of large and medium-sized skins was nearl}' com- 

 pleted and the taxidermist detailed to the division made up 325 

 skins for the reserve series, consisting mainly of small carnivores 

 and monkeys from the Borneo collection of Mr. Raven. Unusual 

 progress was made in the preparation of osteological material, some 

 920 large skulls, 98 more or less complete skeletons, and many hun- 

 dreds of miscellaneous bones, chiefly leg bones, having been cleaned 

 at the Museum, and 3,200 small skulls and 80 skeletons, by contract. 



The mammals from the Smithsonian African Expedition were re- 

 arranged and most of those from South Africa were identified, the 

 labeling of both being completed. Much work was done toward in- 

 stalling the skulls and skeletons of large mammals in 100 quarter-unit 

 cases specially provided for the purpose in the west attic. With the 

 exception of the cetaceans, the American deer, and the family Bovida3, 

 the entire collection of large mammal skeletons is now supplied with 

 proper case room. The whale skulls and skeletons are still tempo- 

 rarily quartered in the north gallery and northeast basement of the 

 old Museum building, while a few skulls too large to be accommo- 

 dated there have been placed provisionally with the osteological 

 exhibit in the new building. 



Research work in this division was largely restricted to the descrip- 

 tion of new forms discovered incidentally during the identification of 

 collections recently received or in the course of revising and redeter- 

 mining old material, as indicated by the titles of the papers cited in 

 the bibliography at the end of this report. In addition, the curator of 

 the division, Mr. Gerrit S. Miller, jr., prepared a new edition of the 

 Directions for Preparing Specimens of Mammals, and the assistant 

 curator, Mr. N. Hollister, completed a monograph of the grasshopper 

 mice, Onychomys. Dr. C. Hart Merriam, associate in zoology, con- 

 tinued his studies of North American bears, the monograph on this 

 subject, which has long engaged his attention, being now well ad- 

 vanced toward completion. Dr. E. A. Mearns, United States Army, 



71159°— NAT Mus 1914 7 



