1 8 Report of the President. 



hall. The energies of the department have been largely 

 devoted during the past year to the mounting of the huge 

 JBrontosaurus skeleton which will form the central attraction 

 of the Dinosaur Hall. This skeleton, 67 feet long and over 

 15 feet high, has presented peculiar difficulties, both mechani- 

 cal and scientific, in the mounting, and much study and ex- 

 periment by the Curator and his staff were required to solve 

 them. In the modeling of the missing parts of the skeleton 

 we are indebted for many courtesies to the Museum of Yale 

 University. Corresponding courtesies have been extended by 

 us to the Carnegie Museum in connection with the cast of the 

 Diplodocus skeleton being prepared there for exhibition in the 

 British Museum, London. 



The cessation of the Whitney Fund for the exhibit of the 

 Evolution of the Horse has seriously crippled the work of 

 the department in this direction. Much has been accom- 

 plished during the three years of the continuance of this fund, 

 the Oligocene, Miocene, Pleistocene and modern horses being 

 now well illustrated by mounted skeletons and by series of 

 skulls, feet, etc., showing the morphology and evolution of 

 those parts in each of the above stages in the development of 

 the race. Several important problems, however, still remain 

 unsolved, especially in the Eocene or earliest stages of the 

 Ancestry of the Horses, which are as yet incompletely known 

 and inadequately illustrated. The most important addition to 

 the Horse Alcove during the year was the exhibit of the Rear- 

 ing Horse and Man skeletons. An instructive comparison with 

 the evolution of the Horse is furnished by the series of feet 

 illustrating the Evolution of the Camel in North America. 



The preparation of the fossil fish collections for exhibition 

 has progressed rapidly under direction of Professor Dean; 

 they will be displayed in the small tower hall in the southeast 

 corner adjoining the Dinosaur Hall. Dr. Hay has continued 

 his studies upon fossil turtles with the assistance of the grant 

 from the Carnegie Institution, and a fine series of specimens 

 is being prepared for exhibition. 



A number of scientific papers were published during the 

 year, and several monographic researches continued or com- 



