50 REPORT 0E NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1018. 



whale which was suspended from the ceiling in the skeleton hall. 

 He also thoroughly overhauled and repaired the large model of the 

 sulphurbottom whale which began to show cracks and other defects in 

 various places. Another work of considerable difficulty entrusted to 

 Mr. Mirguet was the taking off from the old stands of many of the 

 largest mammals in the exhibition cases and reinstalling them, cover- 

 ing the bottom of the cases with sand artificially colored to match the 

 standard olive green of the exhibition. He also skinned and mounted 

 two large turtles for exhibition — one a giant land tortoise of the Gala- 

 pagos, the other a large fine specimen of the hawksbill turtle from 

 Florida. In addition he was from time to time employed with 

 making up skins for the study series of various mammals, reptiles, 

 etc., modeling and plaster coating, etc. Mr. William Palmer, pre- 

 parator, continued his care and work on the District of Columbia 

 faunal exhibit until it was practically broken up by the second floor 

 being turned over to the mammal division for storing of the study 

 series of mammals. Towards the end of the year he was engaged on 

 plans for the reinstallation of the District collection in the form of a 

 series of habitat groups. In the meantime the plaster moulds and 

 casts, mostly of reptiles and fishes, for many years stored in the base- 

 ment of the natural history laboratory, where they had undergone 

 many vicissitudes, were removed by him to the natural history build- 

 ing, overhauled, cleaned, and repaired as far as possible. Most of 

 them were stored, but casts were made from several, and others were 

 painted and placed on exhibition. Several small casts of amphib- 

 ians and reptiles were also finished as small groups and installed in 

 the exhibition cases. 



Exhibition collections. — Owing to the necessity of furnishing office 

 room for the Bureau of War Kisk Insurance of the United States 

 Treasury, a great amount of exhibition space on the second floor 

 had to be vacated and the cases with their contents stored. When 

 late in the calendar year of 1917 the division of mammals and the 

 Biological Survey were called upon to give up their laboratory and 

 storage space in the west and west north ranges, ground story, it 

 was decided to move the cases containing these collections up into 

 the corresponding exhibition space on the second floor. In these 

 ranges were exhibited the District of Columbia fauna, the domestic 

 animal series, all the invertebrates, including the insects, the whole 

 synoptic series, the special exhibits of color aberrations, hybrids, 

 birds eggs and nests, the destructive work of insects, the historical 

 exhibit of the corals of the Wilkes Exploring Expedition, etc. The 

 bulk of the exhibition cases were placed in the adjacent alcoves con- 

 taining the special exhibits, but a large number had to be given 

 shelter in the whale hall, which thereby became unduly crowded with 

 a very heterogeneous assembly of exhibits. Some of the large 



