42 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1898. 



sets have already been distributed. The distribution of this large 

 amount of material has relieved the storerooms and cases. As already 

 stated, a considerable change is contemplated in the exhibition series 

 of the division, and at the close of the year work was begun by a 

 readjustment of the the cases in the exhibition ball. 



The curator of the Division of Comparative Anatomy, Mr. F. A. 

 Lucas, was absent a considerable portion of the year in connection 

 with his duties as a member of the Fur Seal Commission. On th.it 

 account, and because he is also charged with the general care of the 

 vertebrate fossils, a large amount of work has not been done on the 

 osteological collections. So far as the exhibition series is concerned 

 this is not detrimental to the Museum, as the series is already very full 

 and very carefully arranged and labeled. The condition of the reserve 

 series, however, is not satisfactory, the curator reporting that more 

 than double the number of drawers now in use are needed for the 

 accommodation of specimens and their proper arrangement and to 

 permit the withdrawal from storage of the large amount of material 

 now practically inaccessible. 



In the Division of Plants Mr. F. V. Coville, honorary curator, reports 

 that several important changes and improvements have taken place. 



In order to provide a circulation aisle for visitors around the East 

 Hall gallery it was necessary to move the screen at the east end back 

 some 4 feet into the botanical laboratory. The loss of space was com- 

 pensated for by assembling a double row of cases on the south side of 

 the gallery for its whole length, making in all about liOO running feet. 

 Whether this arrangement can be maintained permanently is perhaps 

 doubtful. 



Two rooms in the east tower were fitted up for the collection of 

 cryptogamic plants, which, however, is likely to soon outgrow these 

 quarters. 



The sectional herbarium, numbering some 30,000 specimens, which 

 was formerly kept in the Section of Paleobotany, was returned to the 

 general collection, and the work of distributing the specimens to their 

 proper places has progressed satisfactorily during the ^ear. 



The separation and marking of type specimens has been continued. 

 During the year 252 such specimens were marked, making a total thus 

 far of 1,59G. 



Scientifi(; investigations of more or less wide scope have been carrie<l 

 on in the several divisions of the department during the year, and the 

 results obtained are very creditable to the statt". Mr. Robert Iiidgwii> 

 has made satisfactory progress on the comprehensive manual of North 

 and Middle American birds, which he has had in preparation for a con- 

 siderable time. The head curator of the department has continued 

 studies on the cetaceans, and has completed a paper on the nomen- 

 clature of the whalebone whales of the North Atlantic. Mr. G. S. 

 Miller, Jr., has been engaged in an investigation of the Free-tailed bats. 



