Report of the President. 25 



The Shell Collections continue to increase much faster 

 than the space allotted for their exhibition, which latter must, 

 for some time to come, remain practically unchanged. 

 Through the continued generosity of Mr. Frederick A. 

 Constable, important additions of Japanese shells have been 

 made. Through the gift of Mr. Albert H. Storer, over seven 

 thousand handsome shells have been added to the collection, 

 and through his liberal permission they may be used in any 

 way helpful to the improvement of the cabinet as a whole. 

 Numerous additions by gift and exchange are recorded in the 

 List of Accessions. 



Considerable interest is taken by a group of students and 

 collectors in the shell collection, and it is to be regretted that 

 this now imposing collection cannot be assigned a hall large 

 enough for its complete display, together with facilities for 

 illustrating local distribution and the domestic molluscan 

 fauna. 



The time of the Curator has been, apart from the effort 

 made to finish the record of these two large collections, par- 

 tially employed in the current lectures of the Museum. 



Department of Invertebrate Zoology. — During the 

 past year considerable attention has been given to making 

 the collections in the Synoptic Hall more attractive and com- 

 prehensible to the public. The specimens in nearly all of the 

 alcoves have been provided with permanent printed labels. 

 Dr. Dahlgren with his assistants has made some very fine 

 models of various invertebrates, among which the models of 

 a large Synapta, several species of moss-animals (Polyzoa), a 

 giant Japanese Hydroid {Branchiocerianthus) and a huge 

 Australian sea-anemone {Discosoma) are especially note- 

 worthy. 



During May and June Professor Wheeler accompanied Mr. 

 Chapman on his expedition to the Florida Keys and the Ba- 

 hamas. Dr. Dahlgren joined the party during the latter 

 month. A considerable number of corals, sea-fans, insects, 

 myriopods, mollusks, etc., were collected on Andros and New 

 Providence Islands. Dr. Dahlgren secured material for a 



