32 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM,, 1907. 



specimens belonging to the reserve scries. Much of the time of the 

 preparators was directed, as in all previous years, toward the preserva- 

 tion of objects subject to injury by insects and other agencies, such as 

 dust, dryness, moisture, and chemical decomposition. Pottery is more 

 or less subject to deterioration by some of these causes, showing in 

 the exfoliation of the ware. This has been especially noticeable in the 

 ancient Pueblo pottery, which was treated during the year with an 

 impervious dressing that promises to be effective. 



A card catalogue was made of the Etruscan bronzes and potteries, 

 Samian and Aretine ware. Egyptian and Trojan antiquities, pre- 

 paratory to their transfer from the division of prehistoric archeology 

 to that of historic archeology. 



In the department of biology, as elsewhere, there is great difficulty 

 in safeguarding the reserve collections, because of the very inade- 

 quate facilities for storage, and this lack is especially felt in connec- 

 tion with the mammals, in view of the relatively large size of many 

 of the specimens. The collection of mammals is in fairly good 

 condition so far as it is kept in the Museum building, but the large 

 number of specimens stored in outside temporary quarters are diffi- 

 cult of access and can not, therefore, be properly looked after. The 

 collection of skins of North American squirrels was transferred dur- 

 ing the year to new insect-proof cases, and the bat skins were rear- 

 ranged on the basis of the classification recently elaborated by Mr. 

 Gerrit S. Miller, jr. Similar work with reference to the insectivores 

 and the held mice of the genus Pero?)iyscus, of which there is a very 

 large series, was begun. The skulls of the three groups mentioned 

 were entirely rearranged, and the cases and drawers containing them 

 were fully labeled. Meial cases were provided for the skins of seals 

 and sea lions, which had previously been unprotected. About 100 

 large mammal skins were made up and 65 were tanned. The num- 

 ber of mammal skulls cleaned was approximately 3,000, of which 

 about two-thirds were of medium to large size. 



A beginning was made in relabeling the reserve collection of 

 birds, one of the largest and most valuable in the world, originating 

 in the held work of Prof. Spencer E. Baird before he became Assist- 

 ant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in 1850. The im- 

 portance of this work has repeatedly been pointed out by the curator 

 of the division, but with the present force its completion will require 

 a considerable length of time. A number of valuable skins were 

 repaired by the taxidermists, and all of the specimens received (lur- 

 ing the year were put away in their proper places, except those sent 

 from the Philippine Islands by Doctor Mearns, which await his 

 return .for study and cataloguing. Notwithstanding the crowded 

 condition of the bird collection, its storage in three separate quarters, 



