REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1925 85 



to state that the division now has the largest and best preserved 

 collection of fossil cetaceans ever assembled in an American institu- 

 tion, and its steady growth from year to year promises not only to 

 maintain that distinction but to place it in a still higher position. 



Doctor Gidley has completely overhauled the collection of mam- 

 malian material from the Cumberland Cave and rearranged it 

 according to biological groups. A few remaining important speci- 

 mens of this lot were cleaned for study. About 50 specimens of 

 Pleistocene fossils from Melbourne, Fla., have been identified and 

 catalogued. 



The study collections in applied geology and mineralogy have 

 required but little attention during the year. All new materials 

 have been catalogued, numbered, and filed away. A general check- 

 ing and rearrangement of the Shepard collection of minerals is now 

 under way. This, it may be recalled, is held together for the present 

 as a separate collection. 



Miss Margaret Moodey has been occupied as usual in looking after 

 the records, assisting with exhibition work and in the care of the 

 study collections, revising manuscript, and proofreading. A begin- 

 ning was made in segregating the types in the Orestes St. John 

 collection of fossil fishes preparatory to cataloguing, but it was 

 found necessary to defer the completion of this work until the com- 

 ing year. James Benn, scientific helper, has assisted in the care of 

 the collections, and Harry Warner, preparator, has continued his 

 usual work of cutting and polishing specimens and preparing thin 

 sections for study. 



The collections in all divisions are reported as in good condition. 

 As mentioned in previous years, the exhibits must now remain prac- 

 tically at a standstill unless money becomes available for explora- 

 tion or purchase of desirable objects. The Chamberlain endow- 

 ment permits additions to the gem collection, which is growing in 

 value and attractiveness, and a number of new minerals, chiefly 

 of value as study specimens, were purchased with money provided 

 by Col. W. A. Roebling. The meteorite collection, though numeri- 

 cally large, is as yet little more than a study collection when com- 

 pared with that of other leading museums. The representatives are 

 mainly in the form of small pieces secured by exchanges with other 

 collectors, and while, so far as numbers go, it has served the cura- 

 tor in his investigations fairly well, it is quite lacking in the spec- 

 tacular features desirable. The exhibits are fully labeled, although 

 in many instances it has been necessary to use temporary typed 

 labels. 



The study series are in good condition and available for reference. 

 The additional storage room secured for the section of invertebrate 



