1 6 Report of the President. 



demands made by the Museum in connection with its educa- 

 tional work. 



The number of mammals received during the year was 

 1,939; the number of bird skins was 10,237. 



Department of Mineralogy and Conchology. — The 

 splendid collection of minerals, one of the foremost in the 

 world, and the extensive collection of shells, now the property 

 of the Museum, are of such scientific completeness that large 

 accessions of new material are simply impossible. Growth 

 in this department must be slow, but our prestige can be 

 maintained only by our taking advantage of every opportunity 

 to improve and complete. 



An examination of the list of accessions will show what new 

 material has been added. Upon this list, as in previous years, 

 we note the names of Miss Matilda W. Bruce, Mr. E. Scherni- 

 kow, Mrs. Ida S. Oldroyd and Mr. F. A. Constable. 



More than ever before the collections have been of scientific 

 use, and during the summer Drs. Baskerville and Kunz ex- 

 amined practically every specimen in the entire collection 

 while carrying on their investigations upon the reactions of 

 minerals to radium, the X-rays and the ultra-violet rays. The 

 expense of these experiments was largely borne by Mr. Edward 

 D. Adams, whose gifts of valuable specimens of radium have 

 kept the Museum in the front rank of those institutions which 

 have been identified with experiments upon various radio- 

 active agents. 



Department of Vertebrate Palaeontology. — The chief 

 event of the year in this department was the establishment of 

 a Division of Fossil Fishes, of which Professor Bashford Dean 

 was appointed Honorary Curator. The agreement of Colum- 

 bia University to deposit the Newberry Collection in the 

 Museum results in a combination of collections of fossil fishes 

 most advantageous to the Museum, the University and students 

 of fossil ichthyology alike. 



The total collection of fossil vertebrates now numbers 14,420 

 specimens, including the results of the following expeditions 

 during the summer of 1903: 



