Annual Reports 129 



of purely routine work for the i\ssociation, and would enable the curator- 

 in-chief to devote his entire time and energies to increasing the efficiency 

 of the museum as a public institution. 



The following synopsis of the general work performed in the museum 

 may be of interest to the Board. 



1. Educational. — Two or more lectures weekly during the fall and win- 

 ter season, involving careful preparation hy study of books and specimens. 

 Instruction given to high school and other students, chiefly in ornithology. 

 Information on all branches of natural history for visitors. Photographs 

 of children, live animals, etc. 



A large part of this work is done by Mr. Cleaves, although much atten- 

 tion is also given to visitors by Miss Pollard and myself. 



2. Curatorial. — Mounting, labeling'and determination of about 5,000 spec- 

 imens annually, Mr. Pollard; taxidermy, for birds and mammals, Mr. 

 Cleaves; cataloguing of all museum specimens, Miss Pollard. Selection 

 and arrangement of material for exhibition, by all members of the admin- 

 istrative staff. 



3. Mechanical. — Building of cases, supports, stands, cages, etc., is largely 

 done in the museum workshop by Mr. Cleaves and myself. Printing of 

 labels is also done on our own press. 



4. Clerical. — During the past year Miss Pollard has completed the cata- 

 loguing of the original herbarium belonging to the Association, 8,787 

 sheets; has added 3,659 cards to the museum catalogue; has written 722 

 letters, labels and miscellaneous cards; listed and filed 403 exchanges; 

 and bound 59 pamphlets. This work is wholly museum work; for the 

 Association she has addressed 5,138 envelopes and 590 postal cards, and 

 has written 105 letters and 171 miscellaneous notices. 



5. Bookkeeping. — The monthly payroll vouchers and checks are made 

 out by Mr. Cleaves ; the other accounts are handled by Mr. Pollard. These 

 consist of payroll vouchers and voucher schedules; the monthly summary 

 of invoices; the appropriation ledger, general ledger and journal; the 

 balance sheet, monthly statement and monthly synopsis; the museum 

 voucher schedules and museum order book, the latter kept by Miss Pollard. 



During the winter a complete inventory of city property in the museum 

 was prepared and has since been supplemented with lists of supplies 

 consumed. 



The above is a synopsis of the continuous routine work of the museum. 

 To this must be added the preparations necessary for all meetings and 

 special functions ; the attention and supervision by Mr. Cleaves and myself 

 to the Boy Scouts ; and the time spent in receiving business communica- 

 tions and visitors in general, also in supervising and laying out the work 

 of the janitor. I have thought this synopsis might be of interest as sev- 

 eral members of the Board have at times expressed to me the wish to 

 know of what the museum work consisted. 



As we have nearly reached the limit of capacity in our present building. 



