REPORT. 



THE difficulty mentioned in ni}' last Annual Report, relating to 

 the absence of sufficient case room, has continued through the 

 year, but it is hoped that a few months more will put an end 

 to a condition seriousl}- impeding the progress of the Museum. No 

 new colle(5lions of great importance have been received during the 

 year, although single specimens have come in by gift and some 

 important ones b}- purchase ; axuong the latter the fine specimen 

 of Sperm Whale {Physeter niacroccphalus) which was ordered by 

 the Trustees some two years ago. It was then considered that 

 as Honolulu owed much of its early prosperity to the whaling 

 industry which at one time made this port the centre of its 

 operations in the Pacific it would be desirable to have specimens 

 of the seven or more species of whale formerly caught in these 

 waters. As a beginning, the Wards Natural Science Estab- 

 lishment at Rochester, N. Y., was commissioned to procure as 

 fine a skeleton of a sperm whale as possible, and to not only 

 mount this carefully as a skeleton, but following the sugges- 

 tion of the late Sir William H. Plower of the South Kensingtou 

 Museum, prepare a covering of suitable material to represent the 

 actual appearance of the living whale so far as possible. As this, 

 covering extends over onl}- a longitudinal half, inspection of the 

 bony strucfture is in no wise hindered ; and as the whale is now 

 hung in Hawaiian Hall about on a level with the upper gallery it 

 is in a very favorable position for examination. The specimen is 

 a full grown male 55.7 feet long. The skull alone is 18 feet long,. 

 8 feet wide and 6 feet high, weighing 6000 pounds. The lower 

 jaw, which contains 50 teeth, weighs only 900 pounds. The fram- 

 ing of the skeleton is very skilfully done, two strong steel rods, 



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