28 Report of the President. 



Professor Osborn not only contributed largely to the 

 maintenance of field expeditions, as shown in the Treasurer's 

 Report, but also spent his entire salary in promoting the 

 work of his department. 



Department of Invertebrate Zoology. — This depart- 

 ment* was established in January, 1901, with Professor Her- 

 mon C. Bumpus, as Curator. George H. Sherwood, A. M., 

 assumed the duties of Assistant Curator in the following No- 

 vember. The material which has come into its care was pre- 

 viously under the charge of Professor R. P. Whitfield, Curator 

 of Geology and Invertebrate Palaeontology, whose energy and 

 skill have been largely instrumental in assembling a collection 

 in this branch of natural science which is of acknowledged 

 credit to our institution. The series of corals is particularly 

 fine, ranking with the best in the world. The West -Indian 

 forms were almost all obtained by Professor Whitfield during 

 his vacations. The most important accession to the depart- 

 ment during the past year was a remarkable series of siliceous 

 sponges which was purchased for the Museum by Professor 

 Bashford Dean of Columbia University, during his recent visit 

 to the Orient. The collection comprises thirty-seven speci- 

 mens, representing twenty-six species distributed among six- 

 teen genera. Among the specimens are several fine examples 

 of the beautiful "Venus' Flower Basket" and related forms. 



This Department has been given the charge of reptiles, 

 batrachians and fishes, in addition to the invertebrate animals, 

 and the Curator reports that much work has been done in the 

 line of overhauling the large amount of material which had 

 accumulated in the preceding thirty years. For lack of 

 available exhibition space, almost all the specimens in these 

 three great branches of Natural History have been relegated 

 to storage, until the hall in the southeast corner of the ground 

 floor can be fitted up with suitable cases for their reception 

 and exhibition. The principal additions to the collection of 



* Insects are under the care of Wm. Beutenmiiller, Curator of Entomology, and mollusc's 

 are retained by L. P. Gratacap, Curator of Mineralogy. 



