REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 35 



St. Louis, the others held for exchange. These replicas are executed 

 with the utmost care, and one set has been photographed along with 

 the originals for distribution to the museums with which exchanges 

 are arranged. The same force of preparators also built models of a 

 number of the ruined buildings of Mexico and Yucatan, five of these 

 being completed and exhibited at St. Louis. In the same laboratory 

 there were also made during the year twenty masks, besides other 

 castings of Indians belonging to delegations which visited Washington 

 during the season, and from these castings a number of busts have 

 been prepared, both for the Museum and for exchange. 



In the several divisions of the Department of Biology not only has 

 the material obtained during the year received the attention required 

 to insure its safety, but much has also been done toward improving 

 the condition of older parts of the collections. The staff is, however, 

 altogether too small to handle these large collections satisfactorily, 

 and the limited storage and laboratory quarters prevent that arrange- 

 ment of specimens which would make them readily accessible for 

 reference or study. The latter difficulty is soon to be overcome, and 

 it is hoped that the former also may. In the division of mammals 

 6,760 skulls were cleaned, a necessary preliminary to the study of the 

 specimens of this group. A large number of skins were made over, 

 and some additional cases for the arrangement of the reserve series 

 were provided. The entire collection of mammals is now in as good 

 condition as the means will allow, but very much remains to be done. 

 No special improvement is to be noted in the condition, of the bird 

 collection, as the space allotted to it has long been overcrowded. The 

 identification, labeling, and cataloguing of specimens has continued. 

 In a general way the same may be said of the other biological divi- 

 sions, but it should be recognized that in all the preservation of 

 specimens has been as carefully looked after as the circumstances 

 permit, and practically everywhere their condition is good. The 

 mollusks, to which much attention has been given, are mostly labeled 

 and accessible. The collection of insects, one of the largest and most 

 valuable in the world, was never so well preserved and arranged as it 

 is at present, rapid progress having been made in the transfer of 

 specimens to the new hermetically-closing drawers. Much of the 

 work with this group is being performed by volunteers, members of 

 the entomological section of the Department of Agriculture, whose 

 assistance is to the advantage of both bureaus. The condition of the 

 varied collections in the division of marine invertebrates was greatly 

 improved, a large amount of cataloguing having been done, and many 

 sets of duplicates put up for distribution. The helminthological col- 

 lections, considered to be the finest in the country for study purposes, 

 has been maintained in good condition. 



