State Museum of Natural History. 9 



Mr. C. E. Beecher has been occupied for a considerable time upon 

 the study and arrangement of the Waldron Collections, of which the 

 museum now possesses a very extensive and well-arranged series. The 

 latter part of the year has been entirely devoted to the Cephalopoda, 

 which will soon be arranged in the rooms of the museum. 



In the preparation of the corals, for study and illustration, large 

 numbers of translucent sections have been made, and also simple cut- 

 tings with polished surfaces. 



The machinery used for cutting sections has also been applied to 

 trimming and shaping large specimens, which cannot be trimmed with 

 a hammer without danger of fracturing. A large number of speci- 

 mens have thus been made available for the museum, which were too 

 un wieldly or otherwise unfit for arrangement in the cases. 



The addition of five hundred drawers during the past year will afford 

 great relief in the disposition of the accumulated collections. These 

 will all be occupied by a selected series of corals, arranged for the 

 special study of this class of fossils, and from which specimens will 

 be taken for illustrating the Natural History. A very large number 

 of specimens of corals will ultimately be available for distribution to 

 the colleges and normal schools; but this work cannot properly be 

 done until the final determination of -the species, in order that the 

 collections may be authentically labeled. 



During the present year we shall require five hundred additional 

 drawers for receiving the collections which are now in process of being 

 unpacked and prepared for labeling and arrangement. Even with 

 such accommodation, we shall be obliged to repack in boxes a large 

 amount of material, after it shall have been cleaned and ticketed. 

 This course is very unsatisfactory in everyway, since it renders so much 

 of the collection almost inaccessible. 



Field Collections. 



The field collections during the past year have been chiefly limited 

 to the Trenton Limestone. Dr. J. W. Hall was engaged for two or 

 three weeks in making collections from that formation along the 

 shores of Lake Champlain. This collection has furnished specimens 

 of Bryozoa and other fossils, which are very much needed in the 

 museum. 



liEPORTS OF THE MUSEUM. 



During the past year, the 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st reports on the 

 State museum have been published for the use of the Regents and the 

 museum. The three first named, together with the 27th report, were 

 especially ordered near the close of the legislative session of 1878, 

 having been previously ordered printed as legislative documents at the 

 time of their presentation. This delay in ordering these reports 

 printed has operated to the disadvantage of the museum, since it has 

 not been possible to place before the public evidence of the work done 

 in the successive years. The printing of so many reports during one 

 year has required much time and special attention to proof-reading by 

 persons connected with the museum. Notwithstanding this unusual 

 interference, the ordinary work of investigation has been very success- 

 fully carried on, as you will learn from the communications accom- 

 panying this report. 



[Assem. Doc. No. 127.] 2 



