Vol. XI] EVERM ANN— DIRECTOR'S REPORT FOR 1921 g21 



5. Orthoptera, Neuroptera, Hemiptera and Lepidoptera from the 

 Pribilof Islands, Alaska. <Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., Vol. XI, 

 No. 14, pp. 193-195, November 2, 1921. 



NEEDS OF THE MUSEUM 



The needs of the Museum are many and urgent; so many 

 and so urgent that it is not easy to list them in sequence of 

 importance. The one that perhaps should be mentioned first 

 is that of buildings. The Museum has already grown far 

 beyond its present room-capacity. Every department is 

 crowded; most of them have overflown into the adjacent 

 halls. Great quantities of valuable collections are stored in 

 the basement and under the floor of the Mammal Hall where 

 one cannot walk erect and where there is no provision for 

 lighting. It is therefore next to impossible even to inspect 

 them and see that they are not deteriorating, and absolutely 

 impossible to use them. As one illustration, there is stored 

 away in this darkness a large and very valuable collection of 

 woods that would make an extremely attractive and instruc- 

 tive exhibit if we only had space in which to display it. 



We now have no place for exhibits of insects, mollusks, 

 reptiles, amphibians, fossils, invertebrates and plants. We 

 have already material on hand that would make splendid ex- 

 hibits in these lines. We have no room for any of the several 

 wonderful large animals of Alaska and the far north — the big 

 brown bears of Alaska, the glacier bear, polar bear, the moose, 

 caribou, musk ox, mountain sheep, mountain goat, buffalo, 

 walrus, and many other great mammals of North America 

 many of which are doomed to extinction in the near future. 

 And we can do nothing with the great mammals of Africa 

 and other foreign countries until we get more buildings. 



These needs are so great that it is earnestly hoped the 

 Trustees may give the matter early, serious, and sympathetic 

 consideration. The proposed East Wing should be built in the 

 near future, and the Whale Court should be enclosed at once. 

 Closing in the Whale Court would help immensely. The 

 expense would be moderate, probably not exceeding $30,000. 



And then we need several endowments. Every department 

 of the Museum should have an endowment that would yield 

 an annual income adequate to meet all its expenses — curators' 

 and assistants' salaries, field work, study of collections and 



