34 



December 28, 1909. — The President in the chair. Forty-one 

 members and visitors present. 



The report of the A. 0. U. entertainment committee was read 

 by Mr. Harper, showing a balance on hand of $77.83. A letter 

 from the Secretary of the A. 0. U. was also read, thanking the 

 Linnsean Society for hospitahties extended during the Congress. 

 In view of the surplus in the hands of the entertainment com- 

 mittee, a motion prevailed to refund thfe subscriptions of non- 

 resident corresponding members of the Society, amounting to 

 $33.00. 



The matter of the proper disposition of the Society's Library 

 was again brought up. The Secretary reported that he and 

 the President had consulted with the Librarian of the Museum 

 and found that it would be feasible to deposit the Library of the 

 Linnsean Society in the Museum Library, where, without losing 

 its identity, it would receive better care and be more readily 

 accessible at all times. After some discussion a motion was 

 finally carried that the Secretary notify all the members of the 

 Society of the proposed change, and call upon each for an 

 expression of opinion. 



Dr. E. B. Southwick spoke of a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak 

 (Zamelodia ludoviciana) that had been captured in Central 

 Park on December 16 and was now confined in one of the 

 glass conservatories. 



The paper of the evening took the form of a most unique dis- 

 course, entitled ''New Methods of Popularizing Lectures on 

 Zoological Subjects," by Mr. Raymond L. Ditmars, Curator of 

 Reptiles and Mammals in the N. Y. Zoological Park. Declaring 

 that the public were tiring of lantern slides, Mr. Ditmars brought 

 with him from the Zoo some of the smaller mammals and 

 reptiles, which he displayed engaging in their natural movements 

 upon a platform before the audience. Perhaps most interesting 

 to those present were the jerboas, or jumping mice, which at the 

 Park cannot be appreciated, as they sleep all day, but whose 

 activity during the night time was amply and amusingly proved. 

 Mr. Ditmars was aided by Mr. Snyder, his head keeper, the 

 necessity for whose assistance was particularly evident in the 

 handling of venomous serpents. Mr. Ditmars and Mr. Snyder 



