DEPARTMENT 



OF MAMMALS. 151 



The usual aniouut of work has beeu done in the identification of si)eci- 

 mens sent to tlie Museum for tlnit purpose laypersons in different parts 

 of tlie countr}". 



Numerous requests for technical information liave been received and 

 responded to. Some information was f,nven Dr. (x. E. Dobson relative 

 to the dentition and cranial characters of KSorax hoyi, *S'. crawfordl^ and 

 8. evotis. 



The curator has been in correspondence with Mr. A. E. Brown, super- 

 intendent of the rhiiadelphia Zoological Garden, relative to the specific 

 distinctions of the smaller American deer, and with Dr. E. C. Spitzka 

 relative to the commonest species of dolphin to be met with on the At- 

 lantic coast. Mr. G. H. Ragsdale, of Gainesville, Tex., has received 

 various information in regard to the mammals of that State. A request 

 from Dr. Alfred Nehring, of Berlin, for a list of the specimens of GaUctis 

 in this Museum was responded to. The facts relating to the periodical 

 shedding of the antlers by C. virginianm and other species of deer, were 

 sent to Mr. C. C. Smith, of Compton, Pa. 



Several requests for information relative to methods of preserving 

 specimens were received and responded to by the curator or chief 

 taxidermist. 



The number of mounted skins exhibited on January 1, 1885, and at 

 the present date is as follows : 



On exhibition .January 1, 1885 *''^*'' 



On exhibition Juno 30, 1S8C "•'•> 



It is necessary to state regarding these figures that they do not indi- 

 cate the real increase of the exhibition series. Tiie collection contains 

 a certain proportion of much-deteriorated specimens. Some of these, 

 which have been exposed to the light on one side only for a score or 

 more of years, are very unsightly, the color being much faded on the 

 side which has been exposed, while on the other side the original tints 

 are preserved. These specimens are unfit for exhibition and must nec- 

 essarily be withdrawn from the exhibition series. The gradual substi- 

 tution of new specimens for old and faded ones, the removal of others 

 without replacement, and the addition of specimens entirely new, are 

 operations which are carried on simultaneously, and it is therefore some- 

 what diflicult to indicate the real increment. The last figures given 

 above simply show that there were on exhibition at the close of the fiscal 

 year (1885-'86) 735 mounted skins of mammals. The number of new 

 specimens actually completed by the taxidermists and placed on exhi- 

 bition during the year was 22, including 3 heads. 



The improved facilities in the laboratory have made possible an actual 

 count of all the S[)ecimens in the collection. Such an enumeration was 

 undertaken at the close of the year, with the following results : 



Exhibition scrie.s ofsliins i 735 



Duplicate anil study series of skins 3, 8fi2 



Alcoholic speciiueus 2,854 



Total 7,451 



