REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1925 83 



cooperation with the Amherst expedition led by Prof. F. B. Loomis, 

 to make further investigations of the Pleistocene deposits of Florida. 



Norman Boss, continuing the practice of previous years, made 

 several short trips to the Miocene deposits along Chesapeake Bay. 



Preservation, installation, and present condition of the collec- 

 tions. — ^Few changes are to be noted in the exhibition halls. Chief 

 among installations is an attractive addition to the exhibit of cave 

 materials made possible by the acquisition of the collection from 

 the Carlsbad Caverns, N. Mex., mentioned elsewhere. A series of 

 enlarged photographs of views in the caverns supplements the speci- 

 mens, the whole forming an exhibit which has attracted much atten- 

 tion. Publicity was given the collection by a series of lectures 

 delivered by Dr. Willis T. Lee, who was in charge of the National 

 Geographic Society's exploration of the caverns in the summer of 

 1924. The Museum is under obligations to both Doctor Lee and 

 the National Geographic Society for material and photographs. 



In this same hall of physical geology, a large polished block of 

 Quincy granite with a vein of pegmatite forms an instructive 

 object. 



The exhibits in this division have for some time been in need of a 

 general rearrangement and cleaning. Work to this end was begun 

 early in the spring. Cases and specimens were thoroughly cleaned, 

 the entire exhibit rearranged, much in the way of duplicates elimi- 

 nated, and new material incorporated. This work was carried out 

 largely by Miss Moodey assisted by James Benn and the necessary 

 laborers, approximately six weeks being thus occupied. 



Three new cases containing some of the choice specimens of the 

 Teller collection have been installed in the section devoted to in- 

 vertebrate fossils. This exhibit contains particularly good series of 

 cephalopods, trilobites, and corals from the Silurian and Devonian 

 rocks of the northern States in which the collection excelled. A few 

 choice specimens were introduced into the paleobotanical exhibits, 

 and rearrangement and cleaning of the collections also consumed a 

 considerable amount of time. 



A small pedestal case in which are exhibited casts of the dinosaur 

 eggs from Mongolia secured by the American Museum's expedition, 

 and an articulated cast of the large Rancho la Brea carnivorous bird, 

 Tetraornis, are the only additions to the fossil vertebrate exhibits. 

 Enlarged photographs showing important fossil localities, are in 

 preparation for hanging on the east wall. 



The large crystal ball noted among the accessions has been placed 

 in the center of the mineral hall surrounded by a circular railing 

 to avert danger from jarring or handling by the curious. This in- 

 stallation is only temporary awaiting the construction of a more 

 fitting case. The exhibit of recently accessioned material has been 



