May 29, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



875 



triistees held in January, 1902, expenses from 

 the general and maintenance funds were au- 

 thorized to the aggregate amount of $210,260, 

 involving a deficit of $19,560. The report of 

 the treasurer shows that the museum has not 

 drawn upon this deficit. The invested fun(Js, 

 however, have not been materially increased, 

 and in the absence of any large income the 

 museum is obliged to depend upon the liber- 

 ality of friends for the development of its 

 collections. 



The financial transactions of the museum 

 are now divided into three separate accounts : 

 (1) City maintenance account, covering the 

 receipts and disbursements of moneys received 

 from the city; (2) general account, including 

 the receipts and disbursements of the income 

 from invested funds, membership and admis- 

 sion fees, state superintendent of public in- 

 struction, and contributions (not for specific 

 purposes) from the trustees and others; (3) 

 endowment and investment account, including 

 the receipts, investments and disbursements 

 of moneys received froia bequests, and con- 

 tributions for specific purposes. The sums 

 received from bequests and the interest 

 thereon are invested in securities for the 

 permanent endowment. Special funds are 

 kept apart. 



The membership of the museum increased 

 during the year. The field parties covered a 

 large territory, and the museum acknowledges 

 the aid rendered by the various railroad com- 

 panies in lessening the cost of transporta- 

 tion of the men and of the material collected. 



The large attendance at the museum by the 

 public and by teachers with their classes, and 

 the attendance upon lectures given at the mu- 

 seum, were gratifying. Several scientific so- 

 cieties held their regular meetings in the 

 museum building. In October, 1902, the 

 International Congress of Americanists held 

 its thirteenth annual session at the museum, 

 and there were present delegates from many 

 foreign countries. The subjects discussed 

 related to the native races of America and the 

 history of the early contact between America 

 and the old world. 



Certain facts connected with the work in 



the several departments of the museum are 

 mentioned. 



Dr. Hovey, of the geological department, 

 was sent by the museum on an expedition to 

 Martinique and St. Vincent in May, 1902, 

 and his treatment of volcanic phenomena in 

 general and of the eruptions of Mt. Pele in 

 particular has received favorable comment 

 throughout the scientific press. 



The additions to the museum collection of 

 mammals were unusually large. 



The gift from the Peary Arctic Club of 

 about one hundred mammals, collected by 

 Commander Peary on his last arctic expedi- 

 tion, is especially noteworthy, and the mu- 

 seum is now doubtless by far the richest in 

 the world in mammals from arctic America. 

 Donations of specimens in the flesh were re- 

 ceived from the New York Zoological Society 

 and the Central Park Menagerie. The An- 

 drew J. Stone Expedition continued its work 

 of making collections of mammals of the 

 Alaskan peninsula. 



Material was collected in the Bahamas and 

 Virginia for special bird groups. 



In the department of vertebrate paleontol- 

 ogy, the collections were enriched by expedi- 

 tions maintained in the field, and the estab- 

 lishment of a fund by a member of the board 

 of trustees for providing material to illustrate 

 the origin and development of the horse pro- 

 duced immediate results of the highest im- 

 portance. The purchase of the Cope collec- 

 tions was effected. These include fossil rep- 

 tiles, amphibians and fishes, and the Pampean 

 collection of fossil mammals from South 

 America. 



During the year a number of archeological 

 collections not before exhibited were installed, 

 notably the Hyde collections from the ancient 

 cliff-houses, burial-caves and ruined pueblos 

 of Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. Among 

 the new exhibits installed during the year is. 

 the special exhibit of a portion of the material 

 obtained during the researches in the Dela- 

 ware valley, which have been carried on for 

 over twenty years. It seems to show that 

 man was in the valley of the Delaware at the 



