322 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.90 



from the Mascall and John Day formations in eastern Oregon col- 

 lected by L. S. Davis in 1882. 



The lower Pliocene collections made by Hatcher in 1884 and 1885 

 near Long Island, Phillips County, Kans., consisted principally of 

 Teleoceras fossiger, of which there were more than 10,000 bones rep- 

 resenting all parts of the skeleton. Upper Pliocene was represented 

 by small lots of material from Hay Springs, Nebr., and from Archer 

 and Williston, Fla. 



At the time of my affiliation with the National Museum in 1903, 

 the bulk of the Marsh collection was stored in rented buildings in 

 southwest Washington. The first floor of a three-story brick build- 

 ing on the west side of Tenth Street near C Street, SW., was then in 

 use as a paleontological laboratory, the cellar and two upper floors 

 being completely occupied by boxes and crated trays of vertebrate 

 material. The study collections of this period were kept in standard 

 trays arranged in tiers on a balcony in the southeast corner of the 

 present Arts and Industries Building and in the lower parts of the 

 A-topped exhibition cases in use at that time. These collections in 

 storage from 1903 on were rapidly reduced in bulk through prepara- 

 tion and condemnation of worthless material, so that in 1910, with 

 the occupancy of the New Natural History Building, the widely scat- 

 tered storage collections were assembled as a unit for the first time. 

 On this occasion the offices and laboratory were newly furnished and 

 equipped, new exhibition cases replaced the old, and steel storage 

 cases replaced the wooden racks of a previous period. These com- 

 modious quarters permitted a more systematic arrangement of the 

 study collections, and for the first time the preparators were provided 

 with a well-lighted, well-equipped, roomy laboratory (27 by 77 feet) 

 (pi. 61). These improvements in facilities were almost immediately 

 reflected in an improved quality as well as quantity of output. 



The study collections have more than doubled in size since the 

 Division moved into the Natural History Building in 1910. There 

 are now 477 three- and six-foot storage units in use, but in addition 

 their tops are covered with the larger specimens that cannot be cared 

 for in standard trays. These storage cases now occupy practically 

 every inch of case room that can be found in offices, laboratory, and 

 adjoining corridors (pis. 52, 53), in addition to the gallery erected 

 in 1930 in the main storage room, which practically doubled its 

 capacity. 



At the present time (1940) all the Marsh collection, except 49 

 boxes from the Morrison of Canyon City, have been prepared, and 

 with this exception all the collection is now available. 



