82 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 
There were no deaths to speak of among the rare and costly 
specimens, many of which are establishing interesting records 
of longevity. The curator of the department is now at work 
upon a table of these records, and similar records for the mam- 
mals. In the past five years we have saved much money and 
permanently strengthened the collection, by eliminating from 
our purchases the greater number of representatives of species 
that have been found to be delicate and short-lived in captivity. 
Early in 1915 special efforts were made, in counteracting 
the lack of Old World species, to obtain a very full series of 
reptiles and amphibians from the southern states and the South- 
west. A collector on the Pacific coast did particularly good 
work in supplying us with lizards, snakes and different species 
of toads. Two collectors in Texas sent on much interesting ma- 
terial, and a large number of very satisfactory reptiles came 
from Florida. The Curator and Keeper Palmer collected several 
hundred specimens of the local reptiles in Sullivan County, New 
York and Pike County, Penn.; those specimens representing 
about twelve species. 
Our South American accessions came from several sources. 
Mr. R. R. Mole, of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, who has steadily 
supplied us with tropical American reptiles since the opening 
of the Park, made special efforts to obtain a large series of 
specimens. From him we obtained a number of species of par- 
ticularly interesting frogs, toads and tree-toads that we have 
never previously exhibited, and apparently have never anywhere 
been exhibited alive before this. An expedition of the Society to 
Para resulted in the addition of several interesting reptiles, and 
near the close of the year, we received a particularly important 
collection of South American poisonous snakes through the cour- 
tesy of Dr. Vital Brazil, Director of the Institute of Serum- 
Therapy, at Sao Paulo, Brazil. 
The scientific work accomplished by the reptile department 
during 1915, comprises a quite elaborate review of little-known 
frogs and toads of the Old and New World by Richard Deckert 
of the Reptile House staff. Mr. Deckert made careful studies 
of a number of rare species on exhibition and for the first time 
prepared colored illustrations of these species from life. He com- 
bined his observation of habits with detailed descripitions of 
species, in an article of over thirty pages, illustrated with color 
plates, that appeared in a recent number of Zoologica, (Vol. 
II, No. 1). Numerous Bulletin articles and notes concerning 
