THE LIBRARY 



and New Providence, nearly all the species have taken to living 

 in the hollow twigs of trees or even in the culms of grasses and 

 sedges. It was only after this fact was discovered that collecting 

 these insects became profitable and interesting. 



Dr. Dahlgren's studies were particularly valuable as indicat- 

 ing the desirability and feasibility of reproducing an entire coral 

 reef in the Museum. Such a reef would present a remarkable 

 sight, with its immense masses of corals, with its twenty-five or 

 more species of sea-fans of wonderful beauty, with its flower-like 

 actinians, with its sponges, extraordinary in their brilliancy 

 of coloring, and with its whole world of moving creatures, — 

 enormous holothurians, large mollusks, star-fishes, long-spined 

 sea-urchins and crustaceans and its tropical fishes of every color 

 of the rainbow. 



THE LIBRARY. 



URING the past year and a half the Library of the ]\Iu- 

 seum has undergone a complete revision. A large 

 proportion of the volumes and separate articles 

 have been catalogued in both author and subject 

 systems. There are on the shelves upwards of 

 60,000 volumes, dealing with Natural History subjects in both 

 technical and popular style, the whole constituting the best 

 reference library in this branch of science which is to be found in 

 New York City. 



More than 400 periodicals are regularly received, representing 

 all branches of science, but more particularly Natural Histor}^ 

 New books and periodicals are being constantly added by gift, 

 exchange and purchase. Among the most noteworthy of recent 

 accessions are complete sets of the "Transactions of the Royal 

 Society of Edinburgh, " " Journal of the Bombay Natural History 

 Society," Royal Servian Academy's publications, "Fauna und 

 Flora des Golfes von Neapel, " and the "Archiv fiir Anthropo- 

 logic. " 



The Library of the New York Academy of Sciences is also on 

 deposit at the Museum. This contains many rare and valuable 



79 



