"j^ Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences 



repairs, and upon his failure to act promptly, a complaint was sent to the 

 Board of Health, which took immediate action, with the result that repairs 

 are now in progress. 



The estimates submitted by various contractors for the renovation of 

 the stable and its conversion into a janitor's dwelling were all considerably 

 in excess of the sum appropriated by the city for that purpose. The 

 Executive Committee thereupon approved my recommendation that the 

 amount be expended to the best advantage in rendering the building suit- 

 able for storage and as a workshop annex. 



An appropriation of $io voted by the Executive Committee for the im- 

 provement of the grounds, has been expended in sodding the terraces, in 

 reseeding bare spaces on the lawns, and in the purchase of a few orna- 

 mental shrubs and flower seeds. Arrangements are under way with the 

 principal of Public School No. 17 looking toward the use of the rear 

 grounds for children's gardens during the summer. It is believed that 

 this concession will benefit the museum, besides being another progressive 

 step in the line of cooperative work. 



The Museum Staff 



The activities of every member of the administrative staff have been so 

 varied that a detailed enumeration is scarcely practicable. The curator- 

 in-chief in addition to his increasing administrative duties, which now 

 include the management of many activities of the Association, has per- 

 sonally installed many exhibits, has constructed cases and other furniture, 

 and has mounted, labeled, and arranged all the entomological accessions. 

 During the summer he defended the budget estimates at various hearings 

 by the special examiner in charge, and of late has been obliged to give a 

 large amount of time to the increasing complexities of the Comptroller's 

 requirements. This has left practically no opportunity during the year 

 for the development of new exhibits, or for scientific investigation, the 

 only work of this kind accomplished being the identification of certain 

 groups of insects at the American Museum of Natural History during 

 the winter. 



The assistant curator has been largely occupied with preparation for the 

 children's lectures, and with taxidermy and other work on the collections. 

 He is now charged with the duty of preparing the monthly payroll 

 vouchers and checks. His report, showing detailed work, is hereto 

 appended. 



The museum assistant, as heretofore, has performed an immense amount 

 of routine work, as shown in her report herewith transmitted. Much of 

 her time now necessarily occupied with guard duty might be more ad- 

 vantageously employed in museum work, and in this connection I offer a 

 recommendation which will be found tabulated with other recommenda- 

 tions at the end of this report. 



The honorary curators of zoology, botany, geology and art have sent 



