REPORT 



To the Honorable the Legislature of the State of New York : 



The Eegents of the University of the State of New York, as Trus- 

 tees of the State Museum of Natural History, respectfully submit 

 their Thirty-third Annual Report. 



The condition of the State collections, as detailed in the accom- 

 panying reports of the director and botanist, is highly satisfactory. 

 Very material additions have been made during the past year in all 

 departments, partly by the efforts of the scientific staff of the museum, 

 and partly by contributions by way of exchange. 



The preparation and labeling of specimens have been carried for- 

 ward as rapidly as the number of assistants would permit. The pre- 

 paring sections of palseontological specimens showing internal struc- 

 ture has been continued with great success. The same machinery also 

 has been applied to trimming and shaping large specimens which could 

 not without injury be trimmed by the hammer alone. 



The botanist has, since the date of his last report, placed in the 

 herbarium of the museum a large number of specimens collected by 

 himself and contributed by others. Lists of these will be found in 

 his report. 



The assistant in zoology has made large additions to the collections 

 in entomology. The zoological department of the museum, although 

 very valuable and instructive, still requires material additions to render 

 it a satisfactory representation of the zoology of the State. 



The want of additional space in which to arrange the collections of 

 the museum is every year more and more felt. Large numbers of speci- 

 mens in geology and palaeontology are kept in buildings outside of the 

 museum for want of room. They are, therefore, in a great measure, 

 valueless for the purposes intended, and the separation of the collec- 

 tions renders the care and study of them much more difficult and 

 unsatisfactory. The trustees, therefore, beg to urge the necessity of 

 providing, at an early day, sufficient space for the rapidly increasing 

 and invaluable material of the museum. 



The trustees have noted with satisfaction the increase in the num- 

 ber of visitors to the rooms of the museum. Realizing the propriety 

 of making the State museum, as far as possible, a place of instruction 

 and interest to the public, they have appointed a special assistant, 

 whose duty it is to provide information and guidance to those who 

 wish to visit and study the collections. 



