THE YEAR'S RECORD 



THE record of the first year of the National Collection of Heads and 

 Horns is profoundly gratifying. It shows, beyond the possibility of 

 doubt, that the idea meets the hearty approval of American sportsmen, 

 and that they will work it out to a splendid consummation. With rare and 

 valuable gifts in hand at this moment which have come to us from Victoria, 

 British Columbia (Warburton Pike) ; from Santa Barbara, California (George 

 H. Gould) ; from London, (William Jamrach) ; from Chungking, China, 1200 

 miles up the Yangtse Kiang (Mason Mitchell) and a fine collection from 

 Philadelphia (George L. Harrison, Jr.), saying nothing here of the gifts 

 from New York City, we may fairly claim that the ultimate success of the 

 National Collection is assured. 



It is indeed a great pleasure to report upon the gifts of a year which has 

 been so fruitful as that which has elapsed since May 1, 1907. They are so 

 numerous and so fine that it is impossible to do them justice within the limits 

 of a single number of this publication. The matchless Reed-McMillin collec- 

 tion deserves more space than it is possible to bestow upon all the gifts of the 

 entire year, and nothing less than a double number should be offered for what 

 must be set forth in Part II of this publication. 



A glance at the gifts of the year, as they hang crowded together in what 

 we call Store Room No. 3 at the Lion House, is most interesting. The wall 

 space that is thickly covered with heads and horns, omitting the great bear 

 skins, which for the moment lie upon the floor, would if stretched out be 72 feet 

 long by 12 feet high. The plastered walls have been solidly covered with 

 planking, and that in turn has been covered by olive-green burlap, such as is 

 used in picture galleries. This storeroom which is in a building absolutely 

 fire-proof is now so full that another room has been fitted up for a similar 

 purpose, in the basement of the large Bird House. 



Inasmuch as the construction of the Administration Building will begin 

 Sept. 1, and be finished in 1909, the Collection will ere long be suitably dis- 

 played. Pending the erection of a special building for its sole use, it will be 

 installed in the picture gallery of the new building, where it will be accessible to 

 all sportsmen, naturalists, and their friends. 



