REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1910. 49 
In the division of vertebrate paleontology excellent progress was 
made in the preparation of material for both exhibition and study. 
Over 250 separate bones of Stegosaurus remains were worked out. <A 
skeleton of Ceratosaurus nasicornis was made ready for final mounting, 
while the mount of a Basilosaurus was nearing completion. A 
beginning was also made in the preparation of skeletons of Campto- 
saurus browni and C. nanus. These will all form valuable additions 
to the exhibition series, the zeuglodon (Basilosaurus) being the first 
of its kind to be mounted in any museum of the world, its nearest 
approach being the grotesque Hydrachus prepared and exhibited by 
Koch in Germany in 1847. 
The collections in the division of invertebrate paleontology are 
now well systematized. <A large number of boxes of unstudied mate- 
rial which had been in storage were unpacked and made ready for 
examination, and some additions and improvements were made in 
the biologic series. The additions to the Cambrian collection were, 
under the supervision of the Secretary of the Institution, prepared 
for study, being numbered, labeled, and catalogued as the work 
progressed. 
The number of lots of specimens received from correspondents for 
identification and reported on by letter was 433, distributed among 
the different divisions of the department as follows: Systematic and 
applied geology, 282; mineralogy, 103; fossil invertebrates, 20; fossil 
vertebrates, 25; fossil plants, 3. 
Exhibition collections.—As above stated, circumstances did not 
warrant making any appreciable additions to the exhibition collec- 
tions installed in the public halls, and in fact the transfer of several 
of the collections to the new building caused them to be temporarily 
withdrawn from view. The following exhibitions, however, still 
remained open to the public in the old building at the close of the 
year, namely: Stratigraphic geology, minerals and gems, building 
stones, metallic and nonmetallic minerals in applied geology, inverte- 
brate paleontology and paleobotany. 
Researches.—In view of the circumstances already explained, com- 
paratively little research work was done. The number of publica- 
tions by members of the staff of the department amounted to 31. A 
new meteorite was described by the head curator, Dr. George P. 
Merrill. Dr. F. B. Laney, assistant curator in geology, began an 
investigation of the copper ores, with the object of establishing the 
primary or secondary origin and order of crystallization of the vari- 
ous minerals constituting both the ore and gangue, the method 
adopted being that of studying polished surfaces under the microscope 
and by reflected light. Some interesting results were accomplished, 
but the work was cut short by the resignation of Dr. Laney to accept 
71245°—nat mus 1910——4 
