Insect Collections 67 



been undertaken and carried out in most of the larger groups. 

 The new system facilitates the finding of any specimen, and 



will allow space for considerable growth in the 

 General collections without the necessity of rearrange- 



Collections ment - The large collection of invertebrates made 



by Mr. Barnum Brown in Cuba during the 

 spring and early summer has been sorted and most of the 

 Crustacea have been identified and catalogued. Important prog- 

 ress in the work on the Congo Expedition Collections has 

 been made during the year. The Crustacea were more care- 

 fully examined and sorted, and such of them as were to be 

 studied elsewhere were packed and shipped. Those identified 

 by Miss Rathbun at the Museum and those returned to the 

 Museum have been catalogued, and the land shells returned by 

 Dr. Pilsbry since the completion of his report, have also been 

 catalogued. These include the collection made in the Belgian 

 Congo by Dr. Bequaert. Mr. Arthur Jacot spent several weeks 

 during the year in identifying and arranging various collec- 

 tions of mollusks, hitherto unnamed. Since the death of Mr. 

 L. P. Gratacap, the general shell collections have been incor- 

 porated with the section of General Invertebrates under Mr. 

 Miner. 



As in former years, a striking feature of the entomological 

 work has been hearty and profitable cooperation with students 



outside of the Museum. In a way, an indication 

 Insects of the extent of one phase of this cooperation is 



Spiders tne ^ act tnat approximately 15,000 specimens of 



insects are now out as loans to entomologists, 

 to mutual advantage. As in former years, the New York En- 

 tomological Society has had charge of the Collection of Local 

 Insects, and members of the society are in close touch with 

 many of the activities of the department. The most important 

 change in connection with the care of the collections has been 

 the establishment of a system whereby the type specimens of 

 species are kept in special pest-proof, fireproof cases apart 

 from the general collection but still linked up with it by means 

 of cross-reference labels. Counting types, cotypes and para- 

 types, we have more than 10,000 specimens of this absolutely 



