REPORT OF THE SECRETARY: NATIONAL MUSEUM 113 



obtained two duck-billed dinosaur skulls {Edmontosaurus and Prosau- 

 rolopfms), both new in the collections, and from the National Museum 

 of South Africa four skulls and limb and foot bones of Lystrosaurus 

 and Dicynodon, extinct reptiles from the Triassic. Remains of these 

 genera are rarel}^ found in paleontological collections of North America. 

 A beautifidly preserved skull of Eq^uus a/asA:cf6 Hay from Point Barrow, 

 Alaska, was collected for the Museum by James A. Ford. A fossil 

 frog skeleton from the Miocene of Nevada, the most perfect example 

 of an extinct frog yet found on this continent, was presented by R. M. 

 Catlin. A skull of a large cetacean from California, presented by 

 Dr. A. P. Ousdal, forms a valued addition to the series of cetacean 

 remains. By purchase from George F. Sternberg a beautiful example 

 of the extinct fish Ichthyodectes hamatus was obtained, and similarly 

 the mosasaur series v/as enriched by a mountable skeleton of the large 

 sea lizard Platecarpus. 



INSTALLATION AND PRESERVATION OF COLLECTIONS 



A rearrangement of the systematic mineral collection, reported last 

 year as under way, was completed, and much new and striking mate- 

 rial from the Roebling and Canfield collections was incorporated. 

 The 2,892 specimens of this series include 837 distinct mineral species 

 and comprise high-quality material only. The new arrangement 

 permitted the introduction of some new exliibits in refractories, lith- 

 ium, beryllium and rare-earth ores. Several large specimens of ores 

 from important mining districts were installed on new bases. Five 

 large meteorites, previously exhibited on individual bases, were rein- 

 stalled on a single long base to harmonize with previous installations. 

 Some striking exhibits on individual pedestals include a large geode 

 from Iowa fitted with interior lighting, radium ore from Canada, 

 and a group of carved corals. 



The head curator prepared a new set of slides on geological subjects 

 for the stercomotorgraph, assembled a set of small, polished samples of 

 foreign building stones, both ancient and modern, and prepared 

 various sets of Cenozoic and recent bryozoans for exchange with the 

 British Museum, in the course of which many specimens were identi- 

 fied and added to the collections. He also continued building up a 

 library of pamphlets on general geology, stratigraphy, and invertebrate 

 paleontology. 



In revising the exhibition scries of ores it was found necessary to 

 expand the study series to accommodate material removed from 

 exhibition, during which tlic classification, cataloging, and distribution 

 of the important collection of rare metal ores assembled during many 

 years' collecting by Frank L. Hess were completed by the assistant 

 curator. This is probably the finest collection of rare-metal ores 

 extant. 



