xvi Report on the Zoological Survey of India 



fishery department (Mr. T. Southwell and Dr. Baini Prashad) hardly 

 come within the scope of this report. They have been published in 

 the Records of the Indian Museum and references to them will be found 

 in the list of publications in Appendix G. This remark also applies 

 to Mr. E. Vredenburg's studies on the shells of the Doliidse and other 

 gastropods. They have been published in the publications of the 

 Zoological Survey, but important as they are from a malacological point 

 of view, they must be considered in reference to his palaeontological 

 investigations undertaken as a member of the Geological Survey 

 of India. 



Collections. 



Preservation of Collections. 



[a) Zoological Collections. — The zoological collections have on the 

 whole remained in good condition, but we have 

 ^^^•eservation and suffered to a considerable extent from petty 

 lections. thefts of bottles and spirit which have resulted 



in the loss of some valuable specimens, including, 

 I regret to say several types of Crustacea. ]\ easures have been taken 

 to render the laboratories more secure out of working hours. So far 

 as the arrangement of the research collections is concerned progress has 

 been made mainly in those of the Crustacea, of the Arachnida and of 

 the Mollusca. All the families of the gastropods have now been separated 

 and rendered accessible for study, while those representing the fresh- 

 water families, which are under special investigation, have been com- 

 pletely rearranged in new cabinets. Among the insects considerable 

 progress has been made in the arrangement of the Diptera and Rhyn- 

 chota and of certain families of the Coleoptera, while with the assistance 

 given us in England by Dr. F. F. Laidlaw and in India by Major F. C. 

 Fraser, I. M.S., a beginning has been made with that of the dragon- 

 flies. 



(6) Ethnological Collections. — The whole of the ethnographical collec- 

 tions representing the tribes of Assam and of the islands of the Bay 

 of Bengal were gone through and sorted out by Dr. A. Meerwarth. 

 Duplicate specimens were laid aside and are now available for distribu- 

 tion to other museums in India. Considerable difficulty has been 

 experienced in finding storage- space for these specimens. Attention 

 has also been paid to the question of incomplete or fading labels and a 

 large number have been restored or replaced. 



Additions to the Collections. 



The greatest objection to postponing the publication of our report 

 for three years is, perhaps, that it renders it difh- 

 CoUeSSs.' ^" ^^^ cu^* for us to acknowledge publicly the assist- 

 ance we have received from private donors. 

 Our whole system, however, is unfavourable for this important func- 

 tion of a public report. Apart from insects and ethnographic speci- 

 mens, we have only one clerk to register specimens received, and his 



