8 [Assembly, JNo. 104.} 



making rock-8ections,which have now become essential in all minute 

 geological studies. Two rooms on the south-west corner of the 

 second story, which were vacated by the Clerk of the Court of 

 Appeals, have also been occupied, one by the State Herbarium and 

 the office of the State Botanist, and the other as a present place for 

 the storage of volumes of the Palaeontology. 



The Trustees are able to report the preparation and issue of the 

 second volume of Palaeontology, placed by law under their care. 

 Owing to the ill-health of the Director in the earlier part of the year, 

 and his necessary engagement with other imperative duties, the issue 

 of the volume has been delayed beyond the stipulated time ; but the 

 unprecedented difficulty of the task of preparing such a work, and 

 the care involved in securing the exquisitely delicate illustrations 

 have made the delay entirely pardonable, and indeed inevitable. The 

 work now issued completes the volumes on the Lamellibranchiata, 

 which were provided for by the law of 1883. The next volume to 

 be issued is upon the Corals and Bryozoa, and is already in a good 

 degree of forwardness. 



The preparation and distribution of collections of fossils among 

 the academies of the State have been carried on as far as the strenfftK 

 of the staif would permit. The Museum contains an immense mass 

 of duplicates of various departments which can be used for this 

 purpose, and it is the wish and purpose of the Trustees to use this 

 material for distribution among institutions of learning in the State. 

 It is not, however, in the opinion of the Trustees, desirable to make 

 this distribution so far indiscriminating as to give collections in places 

 where they are not likely to be used with profit. It seems better to 

 make the gift only to schools, where some interest is awakened in 

 the subject of geology, and where, in consequence, the collections 

 sent will be of substantial benefit. 



Respectfully submitted, 



H. R. PIERSON, 

 David Murray, Chancellor, 



■ Secretary. 



