DEPARTMENT OF MAMMALS. 81 



wich Bay station (S. J. Martin, keeper), (Ace. 15751), and a young black- 

 fish {Globiocephalics melas), front Provincetown station (Peaked Hill Bar, 

 I. G. Fisher, keeper). The TJ. S. Fish Commission secured two speci- 

 mens of the common dolphin [Belphinus deljjhis), one from Wood's Holl, 

 Mass., and one from Cape Hatteras, IsTorth Carolina. (Ace. 16,143.) 



ROUTINE WORK. 



A statement of the size and character of the exhibit sent to 'New Or- 

 leans will be found in a previous report.* Work upon this series was 

 not finished before January 1, 1885, and specimens were withdrawn 

 from rather than added to the permanent exhibition series. To render 

 the collection still attractive to the visiting public in spite of its defi- 

 ciencies, a partial rearrangement was made early in the year. 



Meanwhile the work of mounting new specimens was vigorously 

 pushed forward by the chief taxidermist and his assistants. Before 

 May thirty-three new specimens were added to the series, including a 

 Siberian sheep, a baboon, and several other large forms. 



Finding that printed labels could not be got ready for a consider- 

 able time the curator wrote labels for such portions of the collection as 

 were unprovided with the former. Coj)y for the printer was prepared 

 at the same time. On account of the withdrawals from and changes iu 

 the collection it was found necessary to prepare a new list of the whole 

 for reference. 



Further experiments were made looking to the manufacture of new 

 cases, better adapted than those at present in use, for the display of 

 the collection. The problem of how best to display large mounted spec- 

 imens, to which allusion has been made in previous reports, was again 

 attacked. The erection of a very large case in the center of the hall 

 was first considered. The curator finally came to the conclusion, how- 

 ever, that such a case would prove unsatisfactory on account of reflected 

 light. The proposition to build railings around the low terraces already 

 in use was next considered. The objection to this plan lies in the fact 

 that a great deal of floor-space is wasted. 



It is evident to every museum officer, however, that specimens must 

 be protected from the rude handling or mutilation of unthinking or un- 

 scrupulous visitors. If they cannot be placed under glass or surrounded 

 by railings, only one other mode of arrangement remains to be consid- 

 ered, namely, the erection of high terraces, which take the specimens 

 out of the reach of visitors. A terrace of this character was made for 

 the mounted mammals exhibited at Kew Orleans, and seems to have been 

 generally regarded effective both from an aesthetic and a practical point 

 of view. It is proposed to erect a similar terrace, with modifications, 

 at the south end of the hall. Particular groups, such as that of the fur- 

 seals, and certain very valuable specimens, such as the musk-oxen, may 

 be placed in specially designed cases. 



'Museum Eeport, 1884, pp. 133-135. 

 H. Mis. 15, pt. 2 6 



