REPOKT ON THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY. 65 



Painted casts can never be actual facsimiles of the animals as they 

 appear in life, and for that reason are less valuable than preparations 

 of specimens. The painting- of casts in life colors by competent artists 

 involves very large expense. Furthermore, such casts arc rather art 

 objects than natural history specimens. On the other hand, there is 

 no known method of retaining life colors in specimens preserved in 

 liquids, and such specimens are therefore less attractive to the public 

 than they should be. In certain European museums a method of 

 painting the actual specimens with pigments which resist the action of 

 the preservative liquids has been employed. This may prove a solution 

 of the difficulty. A number of experiments with this process and also 

 with formalin preparations were made during the year, and it is 

 expected that a conclusion will soon be reached as to the method or 

 methods which can be most profitably employed in the enlargement of 

 the exhibition series. At present it seems probable that for large and 

 medium sized species of North American fishes, batrachians, and reptiles 

 it will be best to continue to make painted casts, ignoring the fact that 

 the colors as represented are more or less diagrammatic; that for exotic 

 species, especially those inhabiting remote parts of the world, and for 

 all very small species, specimens in formalin or alcohol, painted or not, 

 will necessarily be employed. 



The exhibit at present consists of 107 fish casts. 73 reptile casts, 1 1 

 batrachian casts, L 2 large stuffed sharks, an alligator, and a group 

 illustrating the habitat of a species of goby. 



Some highly successful experiments have been made in constructing 

 composite preparations of turtles by casting the head. tail, and limbs 

 and fitting them into the natural shell or carapace. 



A small series of deep-sea fishes, about 25 or 30 in number, was 

 placed on exhibition. As these fish are almost invariably much 

 mutilated when dragged from the deep sea, they are not well suited 

 for public exhibition. To supplement them a series of colored 

 figures, chiefly from Garman's "Deep-Sea Fishes" and from Goode 

 and Bean's "Oceanic Ichthyology." is exhibited with the specimens, 

 which they serve to explain. In connection with the exhibit for the 

 Pan-American Exposition an enlarged model of one of the luminous 

 deep-sea species was prepared, and a typical series of similar casts 

 will probably be prepared during the coming year. 



The walls of the entrance hall of flic Smithsonian building were 

 repainted during the year, and a better background obtained for the 

 game birds, fishes, and large mammal heads there exhibited. A plan 

 was perfected for reorganizing the exhibit of game birds and render- 

 ing it more effective by replacing single specimens by groups with 

 accessories representing the birds in their native wilds. A series of 



NAT MLS L901 5 



