88 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



been kept in storage because of lack of exhibiting space. The entire 

 collection of mollusks has recently been assembled in new storage 

 cases and made available for study. Much work still remains to be 

 done, however, before the collection can be considered properly 

 cared for. 



The removal of the old style cases from the corridors leading to 

 zoology hall being necessitated by the installation of the Arnold 

 collection, new wall cases were constructed for the series of mounted 

 fishes and the entire exhibit rearranged in zoology hall proper. The 

 new arrangement admits of better lighting and distribution of speci- 

 mens and permits indefinite expansion through the simple expedient 

 of continuing the cases around the wall. 



Under the direction of C. A. Hartnagel a set of panels was con- 

 structed which appropriately frame the series of seventy original 

 drawings of birds by Ernest Thompson Seton. Placed above the 

 Arnold collection of birds' eggs in the corridor leading to zoology 

 hall they contribute considerable interest aside from their decorative 

 value. 



The most important additions made during the period covered by 

 this report were the collections of birds' eggs presented to the State 

 Museum by Benjamin W. Arnold, of which a complete catalog is in 

 preparation. Through the courtesy of the United States B-ureau of 

 Fisheries, the State Museum has received from the Fairport, Iowa, 

 Biological Station an exhibit designed to show the manufacture of 

 pearl buttons from the shells of fresh-water bivalve mollusks. 



For the past several years Prof. C. R. Crosby of Cornell University 

 and the Zoologist have given their attention as time permitted, to 

 the study of New York spiders. As a result considerable progress in 

 the preparation of a memoir on this group may be reported. As 

 now planned the work will embrace descriptions of all the species 

 known to the State, particular attention being given to the structure 

 of the male palpi and epigyna of the females. Keys to families, 

 genera and species will, it is hoped, increase the value of the work 

 to students and stimulate investigation. A series of drawings in 

 color of many of the species will aid in the determination of them 

 and illustrate some of the biological phenomena of variation, mimicry, 

 and protective coloration (see colored plate) . Systematic field work 

 has been carried on in many parts of the State and extensive collec- 

 tions brought together. It will be necessary to continue this kind of 

 work for some time, however, to cover the State thoroughly and 

 make the list of species a representative one. 



