(273) 



to clean the jars and readjust the specimens. Considerable 

 discoloration takes place in the collections preserved in fluid, 

 so that decanting and substituting clear fluid is necessary. 

 All specimens preserved in formaldehyde solution have been 

 carefully watched and once or twice during the year small 

 quantities of formaldehyde have been added to each jar in 

 order to guard against a possible deterioration of the strength 

 and preserving properties of the solution. 



9. Uses of the Museums. The museums have constantly 

 been used in connection with the teaching- work of the Garden 

 and have been made use of from a similar standpoint by many 

 individual students and by schools from New York City and 

 neighboring states. As far as I have personally observed 

 and have been informed, the visiting public has taken more 

 than passing interest in the collections. Importers and manu- 

 factures have consulted the collections for information of a 

 special nature and many of them have repaid the institution 

 for the information thus gained by donating specimens. 



Herbaria. 



1. General Accessions.* Specimens from numerous 

 sources, amounting to a total of 60,169 were added to the 

 collections during the year. All the specimens not needed for 

 the permanent collections are being placed in the duplicate 

 series, or exchanged for desirable material with other institu- 

 tions. 



2. Mounting and Conserving of Herbarium Mate- 

 rial. The herbaria have been increased by about 55,747 

 sheets during the year. On these sheets fully 77,657 speci- 

 mens have been mounted. 



A great amount of the material obtained through gifts and 

 purchases that has necessarily accumulated during the past 

 few years, chiefly on account of inadequate quarters and 

 means, has been mounted, and incorporated into the perma- 

 nent collections, thus making accessible for study much valu- 



* For detailed list of accessions, see Journal of the New York Botanical 

 Garden, 1 : nos. 1-12. 



