240 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Skr. 



one of the most voluminous and important contributions of the 

 3^ear to entomological literature. 



Department of Exhibits. — The employees of this department 

 were engaged during the entire year on the installation of 

 habitat groups. As stated elsewhere in this report, 17 groups 

 were completed by September 21. Since that date two other 

 small groups have been partially completed. Certain other ex- 

 hibits have been temporarily placed in the mammal hall. The 

 principal of these are eight cases of commercial mollusks and 

 crustaceans and a giant clam shell, received from the United 

 States Bureau of Fisheries ; eight cases of shells from the 

 Hemphill collection, selected for their educational value and 

 general interest ; one case of the edible clams of the west coast 

 of America, presented by Mr. and Mrs. T. S. Oldroyd ; one case 

 of minerals, one of fossil fishes, and one of California butter- 

 flies. 



A very instructive exhibit contributed by the Standard Oil 

 Company has been temporarily installed in the Bird hall. This 

 exhibit, installed without expense to the Academy, is illus- 

 trative of the oil industry and attracts much attention. 



All these exhibits which do not logically belong in the Mam- 

 mal and Bird halls will be removed to appropriate exhibition 

 rooms as soon as an additional wing is provided. 



Department of Herpetology. — The activities of this depart- 

 ment have continued throughout the year with their usual 

 efficiency. Commendable progress has been made in classify- 

 ing and arranging the collections on the shelves in the stack 

 rooms. This work involves the separation, identification, re- 

 bottling, labeling, and card-cataloguing of the entire collection, 

 a task now more than one-third done. 



During the year the collection was enlarged by the addition 

 of 1536 specimens. 



Considerable field work was done by the assistant curator in 

 Nevada, Utah and Idaho, resulting in valuable collections and 

 a much more complete knowledge of the herpetological fauna 

 of those states. 



The collections of this department now number 33,816 speci- 

 mens, and are among the most extensive in America. The 

 hope of the curator to make the department second to none in 



