REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1911. 51 



ance with the classification employed by Dana in his " System of 

 Mineralogy." 



The reserve collections of the section of invertebrate paleontology, 

 except the Cambrian material retained at the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, were moved to the new building before the close of the previous 

 year, and the most important routine work of the past year consisted 

 in overhauling and rearranging them in the permanent storage cases. 

 The splendid Orclovician collection is now for the first time well 

 classified, and fills about 2,500 of the large standard drawers, ap- 

 proaching, in point of size at least, the Cambrian collection, which 

 is unrivaled. The Silurian collection, occupying some 400 drawers, 

 has also been placed in good condition for reference. Much remains 

 to be done with the series of Devonian, Mississippian, and Pennsyl- 

 vanian fossils, although they have been made available for consulta- 

 tion. The Mesozoic collections have been classified, rearranged, and 

 installed, except a few boxes of old material still remaining to be 

 unpacked. The Tertiary fossils have been provisionally arranged 

 and are accessible for reference, but are awaiting additional furni- 

 ture before they can be permanently stored. It is interesting to note 

 the introduction in this section during the year of a stone-cutting 

 machine for trimming the matrix about fossils which can not be 

 removed from the rock. By means of this device much extraneous 

 stone has been removed from specimens of this character, an impor- 

 tant collection that weighed about 3 tons when it reached the Museum 

 having been reduced in weight to some 500 or 600 pounds. 



In the section of vertebrate paleontology all of the "material that 

 has been worked out from the matrix was brought together in the 

 new building, but there remain some 300 boxes containing mainly 

 such portions of the Marsh collection as have not yet been sufficiently 

 cleaned to establish their full value. The preparation of specimens, 

 both for study and for exhibition, progressed as satisfactorily as 

 could be expected with the small force employed. The principal 

 mountings made were for the exhibition hall, as described below. 

 Material for other mounts, some of which is duplicate and available 

 for exchanges, was also assembled. Considerable time was spent in 

 the arrangement of the reserve collections and in the work of classi- 

 fying and cataloguing. 



The reserve collection in paleobotany was in course of transfer at 

 the close of the year, delays having occurred in completing the furni- 

 ture required. This collection now fills about 7,000 of the standard 

 drawers, but its bulk is being materially lessened by cutting down the 

 size of all specimens that permit of it, as in the case of fossil 

 invertebrates. 



With reference to the entire department of geology it may be said 

 that the general card catalogues have been brought practically up to 



