BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 97 



The Curators having now placed their collections in the new building were enabled 

 generally to report upon their magnitude and condition. It will be well to present here, 

 now that the Society starts upon a new era of activity, the substance of what was stated 

 respecting the cabinet. 



The Curator of Ornithology reported the collection of birds, notwithstanding the time it 

 was stored in Bulfinch Street, to be in as good order as when it was taken from the old 

 building in Mason Street ; that several large additions had been made to it since entering 

 the new building, principally by the Smithsonian Institution and by himself; and that the 

 whole number of mounted birds is now more than twenty-five hundred. 



The Curator of Comparative Anatomy reported that the collection of his department 

 had all been removed in good condition, and that the skeletons and parts of skeletons had 

 been arranged in the places allotted to them ; that the skins not in the hands of the taxi- 

 dermist, for want of money, were in the cellar exposed to injury from insects. The collec- 

 tion was briefly described as follows : 



Mammals: skeletons, mounted 73, unmounted 25; parts of skeletons, 107; skulls, 279; 

 teeth, 93. 



Birds : skeletons, 25 ; parts of skeletons, 56 ; skulls, 87. 



Reptiles : skeletons, 13 ; parts of skeletons, 8 ; skulls, 21. 



Fish : skeletons, ; parts of skeletons, 57 ; skulls, 21. 



Alcoholic specimens, 100 ; horns, 50 ; miscellaneous, 25 ; skins not estimated. 



During the past year the large collection of mammalian skeletons which came into the 

 possession of the Society at the burning of the Menagerie in 1861, had been mounted in a 

 very correct and beautiful manner by Mr. George Sceva. 



Several valuable donations had been received, the principal donors being Dr. Henry 

 Bryant, Mr. George Sceva, Mr. C. J. Sprague, Dr. Borland, Mr. W. H. Dall, Dr. B. Joy 

 Jeffries and Mr. J. M. Barnard. 



The Curator of Herpetology reported that there were in the collection representatives of 

 500 species. During the winter and spring much work was done in arranging them and in 

 placing a certain number of each species in fresh bottles and clean alcohol. Some speci- 

 mens had become worthless and were thrown away. The reptiles of Massachusetts were 

 tolerably well represented, but many common species were lacking which the Curator hoped 

 to obtain before the next annual meeting. 



The Curator of Ichthyology reported that the fishes had not been materially injured by 

 their storage in Bulfinch Street. He stated, however, that when they were carried there 

 from Mason Street the poor specimens thrown away left a deficiency in Massachusetts fishes 

 which he expected might be supplied during the season. This is the first indication given 

 of the fate of the magnificent collection of Massachusetts fishes, largely type specimens, 

 collected by Dr. D. Humphreys Storer, and presented by him to the Society. The want of 

 jars and alcohol was strongly urged to the attention of the Society. 



The collection was stated to consist of 280 species, 800 specimens from North America ; 

 80 species, 250 specimens from the West Indies and Bermuda ; 45 species, 62 specimens 

 from the fresh waters of South America ; 8 species, 9 specimens from Africa ; 14 species, 

 10 specimens from Europe; 115 species, 197 specimens from the Hawaiian Islands; 60 

 species, 236 specimens of duplicates for exchange ; 25 species, 200 specimens dry, from 

 various localities. In all 627 species, and 1770 specimens. 



