Rep07't of the President 3 7 



handed the department over to Dr. Louis Hussakof, who took 

 charge of the fossil fishes. The care of the living fishes was 

 assigned to Mr. Nichols, under the supervision of the Director, 

 and that of the living batrachians and reptiles to Miss Dicker- 

 son, also under the supervision of the Director. 



Living Fishes. — Early in March the operations of the yacht 

 "Tekla," which had been cruising in Florida waters for several 

 weeks under command of Messrs. Alessandro and Ernesto 

 Fabbri, came to an end. Through the kind interest of the 

 Messrs. Fabbri, the Museum received by gift collections of fishes 

 made during this trip, chiefly under the direction of Mr. 

 Nichols. The Museum also received as a gift from the Messrs. 

 Fabbri the moulds of a large cub shark and of a fourteen-foot 

 saw-fish, both of which have been largely remodeled and cast 

 and are now displayed in the Corridor of Recent Fishes. 



Through the generosity of Mr. Cleveland H. Dodge, the 

 department was enabled to send for a period of seven weeks 

 (middle of March to the end of April) an expedition to Moon 

 Lake, Mississippi, for the purpose of collecting materials for 

 an exhibition group of that singular ganoid, popularly known 

 as the paddlefish. The expedition succeeded beyond all 

 expectation. The specimens were collected, the necessary 

 color studies and photographs made and moulds of fish in 

 various attitudes prepared. The entire material now awaits 

 preparation into a group. This expedition was in charge of 

 Dr. Louis Hussakof, who acted under the general direction of 

 Professor Dean and was ably assisted in the field by Mr. 

 Dwight Franklin of the taxidermist staff of the Museum. 



The summer's fishing trip of Mr. Russell J. Coles, of Dan- 

 ville, Virginia, may also be regarded, in a way, as a Museum 

 expedition, for it resulted in the gift to the Museum, by Mr. 

 Coles, of a valuable collection of fishes from the North Carolina 

 coast, including several forms which are exceedingly rare and 

 one (a batoid shark, Mobula olfersi) which was previously 

 known from but two examples. 



Among the important exhibits, already installed or in course 

 of installation, may be mentioned the large cub shark and the 

 fourteen-foot saw-fish, referred to above, also a nine-foot sword- 



