127 



sidered the most extensive of any in the country ; the south- 

 western room is partially occupied by the skeletons of the 

 ruminants which could not be accommodated in the large 

 hall, and the skeletons of the birds and reptiles ; the rest of 

 this room contains the collection of mammalian crania ; dur- 

 ing the past year the Curator lias prepared sections of a series 

 of skulls, representing nearly all the famiUes in the various 

 orders of Mammalia, which have been placed in one of the 

 cases and form an instructive illustration of the comparative 

 size and shape of the brain in this class of the animal king- 

 dom. In the north-western apartment the mounted skeletons 

 and parts of skeletons, the odontological cabinet, the skulls 

 of reptiles, the specimens illustrating the comparative osteo- 

 logy of birds and fishes, the dried dissections and the prepara^ 

 tions in alcohol consisting of mammals, embryos, etc., are 

 placed. The Curator calls attention to the large collection of 

 skins, which has not yet been placed in the hands of the taxi- 

 dermist, for want of the requisite amount of money, and is 

 still in the cellar exposed to injury from insects, hoping that 

 an early appropriation may place this interesting department 

 in a proper condition for exhibition. 



Three interesting skeletons have been mounted and placed 

 in the cabinet the past year ; viz., the Poq^oise, White "Whale 

 and Dromedary. So far as practicable, colored representations 

 of the animals have been placed in connection with the labels 

 in the cases containing the mammalian skeletons. The most 

 marked deficiencies in the department are the imperfections 

 in the series of mammalian skulls and particularly the small 

 size of the anthropological cabinet. 



At the beginning of the present year the collection, apart 

 from the skins of mammals which were not estimated, 

 amounted to 1,040 specimens, as follows : 



Mammals — skeletons mounted, 73 ; skeletons unmounted, 

 25 ; parts of skeletons, 107 ; skulls, 279 ; teeth, 93. 



Birds — skeletons, 25 ; parts of skeletons, 56; skulls, 87. 



Reptiles — skeletons, 13; parts of skeletons, 8; skulls, 12. 



Fishes — parts of skeletons, 57; skulls, 21. 



Alcoholic specimens, 100 : horns, 50 : miscellaneous, 25. 



The additions during the past year are enumerated by the 



