8 
There have been extensive changes in the personnel of the 
Museum during the past year, owing to the death of Professor 
Hamlin and to the resignations of Professor Faxon and Dr. Whit- 
man. The care of the collections intrusted to Professor Hamlin 
has for the present been subdivided. The Fossil Vertebrates pass 
into the hands of the Assistants in charge of each class. The 
Fossil Invertebrates are placed in the care of Professor Hyatt, 
while all the recent Invertebrates with the exception of Insects are 
now supervised by Dr. Fewkes. It is hoped that this arrange- 
ment, a more natural one, may become permanent, and that, as 
our additions are not likely to be very large hereafter, they may 
be cared for by the present staff, especially now that the Zodlogi- 
cal Exhibition Rooms are nearly complete. Whenever the Marine 
Faune are open to the public, they will need but little attention. 
Dr. Whitman has accepted the direction of a new Zodlogical 
Laboratory recently established at Milwaukee; but I shall have 
his co-operation in completing as fast as possible under these new 
conditions the Memoir on the Development of Bony Fishes, now 
under way. 
Professor Faxon’s resignation is a great loss to the Museum. 
Associated with it for a long period as assistant and instruc- 
tor, he had become identified with its interests, and it will be 
difficult to fill his place by one as devoted to the interests of the 
Museum, or who will succeed as well as Dr. Faxon has done in 
interesting the large classes which he taught so successfully for 
many years. 
The death of Professor Hamlin has removed one of the two 
older Assistants whose appointment antedates my accession to 
the care of this institution. Professor Hamlin had the reputation 
of being a most exact and critical naturalist, and, as a representa- 
tive of the older school of workers, was during his life a most 
valuable assistant. He had a most extensive acquaintance with 
Mollusks both recent and fossil, and was most painstaking and 
methodical in his Museum work. To this he sacrificed most of 
his time, so that his routine work prevented him from publishing 
much original matter,— his extensive correspondence and ex- 
changes with malacologists all over the world being a task which 
taxed his time to the utmost. 
The number of visitors to the Museum is constantly increasing, 
and on Sundays or holidays the rooms are frequently most un- 
