76 Report of the President 



of Comparative Zoology at Harvard, The Museum of Zoology 

 of the University of Michigan, and from The British Mu- 

 seum (Natural History). 



There were received as gifts 922 specimens. A number 

 of these sent from F. M. Graf, San Bernardino, California, 

 were mounted and have been placed on exhibition. Local 

 naturalists interested in our survey of the reptiles and amphib- 

 ians of our vicinity have added 144 specimens to our series. 



The total number of catalogued specimens in the collection 

 is now 14,550 amphibians and 21,200 reptiles. Including the 

 uncatalogued specimens, the collection contains over 40,000 

 specimens. These figures seem especially significant when 

 it is recalled that the Department did not come into existence 

 until 1909, and at that time its collections included only a 

 little over 6,000 specimens. 



Radical measures were taken this year to relieve the con- 

 gestion in the study collections. Some space and glassware 

 were made available by separating all specimens 



^ a « e ai without data from the main collection. But it 



Collections ■. . 



was not until part of an additional storage room 



was remodeled and turned over to the Department that suf- 

 ficient space became available for a much needed rearrange- 

 ment. The preparation of a complete reference catalogue to 

 the study collections continued throughout the year. Miss 

 Barnett continued the transference of data from the old card 

 catalogue to the new catalogue books. Mr. Schmidt has de- 

 voted much time and thought to the remodeling of our entire 

 storage collection. The system adopted combines the best 

 devices utilized in other museums, and, when completed, will 

 make our study collection one of the most accessible in the 

 country. 



Routine work has absorbed much of the time of all mem- 

 bers of the Department. The completion of the several re- 

 ports, especially those dealing with the Lower Californian 

 collections, has involved the return of a large amount of 

 study material which had been borrowed in former years. 

 The accessioning, cataloguing, identifying, and labeling of 

 incoming material have required an equal amount of time and 

 care. 



