1917.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 347 



tion has been temporarily postponed owing to the ilhiess of the 

 President and Executive Curator, Dr. Samuel G. Dixon. 



The attendance of visitors, both the general public and the classes 

 of school children from the city and nearby towns, has been large, 

 and the educational importance of the museum is constantly in- 

 creasing. 



In field work, Mr. Clarence B. Moore has continued his 

 explorations among the Indian mounds of the Southern States. 

 Mr. J. A. G. Rehn, through the liberality of Mr. Morgan Hebard, 

 was enabled to join him on an entomological trip of several weeks 

 in central Florida and northern Georgia, the Academy sharing in 

 the material collected. Dr. Stone received leave of absence for 

 several weeks during the spring and summer, and collected consider- 

 able botanical and entomological material for the Academy in 

 central South Carolina and southern New Jersey, and local field 

 work was carried on by various members of the staff. While the 

 Academy sent out no expeditions during the year, several valuable 

 collections of mollusks, birds, fishes and insects were obtained by 

 purchase. 



Details of work in the several departments follow : 



Mammals. 



Many osteological preparations have been made by the taxider- 

 mist from material received from the Zoological Society- of Phila- 

 delphia, which are ready to be placed in the study series, and a 

 number of specimens from the same source, as well as two sea lions 

 from the Philadelphia Aquarium, have been prepared as skins. 

 Material has been loaned to Dr. J. A. Allen. 



Birds. 



By removing a number of duplicates from the general exhibition 

 collection of birds, space was secured for the display of a large part 

 of the groups of North American birds recently received from Mr. 

 Geo. B. Benners, an exhibit w^hich has attracted much attention. 

 During the spring the services of Miss Emma P. Merrick were 

 secured as an aid in the ornithological department, and with her 

 help. Dr. Stone was enabled to make a great advance in the arrange- 

 ment of the study series of birds. 



The entire series of hummingbirds were examined and many of 

 the specimens made over, while all were identified and relabeled. 

 The Jewel collection and the Rhoads Guatemala collections were 



