Study Collections of Mammals 91 



additional rows of them have been extended along the walls 

 immediately at the entrance of the North Wing. This latter 

 arrangement is a temporary one, and the cases will be removed 

 to departmental space as soon as any may be made available. 

 This congestion was caused, in part, by the withdrawal of this 

 department from the concrete storage room on the east side of 

 the corridor, this room having been designated as the property 

 of the Department of Birds. 



Other installations include the refinishing of one of the osteo- 

 logical storage rooms in the attic. This included the formation 

 of a double ceiling which Mr. Beers, Chief of Construction, 

 planned to cut down the excessive heat to which these rooms are 

 subjected in summer. Upon completion, the room was equipped 

 with the three section units of uniform type, used throughout 

 this department. The final result is so eminently a success that 

 the refinishing of all the upstairs rooms, at as early a date as 

 possible, should be given the consideration it merits. 



The shifting over of collections into the new units, the assem- 

 bling of material hitherto stored in several rooms, the cata- 

 loguing of specimens from the field and the working out of 

 several new plans for the better utilization of study material, such 

 as a card index of every specimen in the collection, have kept the 

 department assistants busy and have required as well frequent 

 supervision by others of the staff. Despite great progress made 

 in all these matters, not the least of which was the complete 

 removal of all specimens from the concrete vaults at the end of 

 the corridor where they were continually subject to insect attack, 

 the collections have now reached such a size, approximately 

 40,000 specimens, that there still remains a great deal to be done. 



The entire collection of mammals from the Congo Expedition, 

 brought back by Messrs. Lang and Chapin, is now completely 

 catalogued and available for study, but still requires about 

 twenty-five more storage units for its proper disposition. 



Due to the crowded condition of the mammal halls, there has 

 been little incentive toward group construction. Mammals 

 E h'Wri mounted and placed upon exhibition include the 



Cougar Group (practically completed) and the 

 Fur- Seal Group (nearing completion), the young Gorilla, "John 

 Daniel," and the Nordic Horse, also a reproduction of a Pygmy 



