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whenever possible. In many cases sufficient quantities were 
collected for exchange purposes, and several botanists were 
supplied with laboratory material of desirable plants. 
2. Special collections. Throughout the collecting season 
Mr. Wilson, of the staff, spent considerable time in addition 
to his regular duties in getting together an authentic collection 
of the mature seeds of the plants growing in the vicinity of 
the city, making each of his specimens much larger, and thus 
correspondingly more valuable, than is customary even in 
standard seed collections. Mr. Wilson has also made a local 
nut collection, in which are represented, by ample specimens, 
the various nuts native in the region about New York City. 
II. PREPARATION OF MATERIAL FOR EXHIBITION. After 
an inspection of many museums, and various experiments 
and studies with the codperation of the Director-in-Chief, the 
following apparatus was adopted for museum purposes: 
1. Cardboard boxes of interchangeable sizes, for the tem- 
porary storage of exhibition material and the permanent re- 
ception of study specimens were secured in the following 
quantities and sizes: 
Size of Boxes. Number of Boxes. 
2% X 4X 2% inches 203 
14X4X5% ' 207 
2%4xX4x5%H% * 204 
yx 51% x 734 * 200 
244 X 542 xX 7% © 241 
Total 1,025 
This method furnishes both an orderly and convenient 
means of storage. On account of the unit system many boxes 
of the various sizes will pack neatly into a larger box or 
drawer. These boxes have been used to store many of the 
specimens referred to in the first paragraph of this report. 
Specimens too large to be cared for in this way have been 
wrapped in heavy paper and packed in wooden cases. 
2. Glass jars for both exhibition and general storage pur- 
poses were selected with reference to their usefulness and 
