Report of the President 39 



evolution of the lungfishes, to consist of a series of seven 

 models of fishes in bas-relief, is in course of preparation. 



Living Reptiles and Batrachians.* — In exhibition work 

 there has been progress on a synoptic series, especially 

 in those directions in which live material could be obtained, 

 and reference must be made to the courteous help of the 

 New York Zoological Park and of the New York Aquarium 

 in loans and gifts of such material for color study and 

 casts. In this series emphasis has been put not only on 

 identification and classification, but the representative forms 

 are shown also in action and sometimes in a simple habitat so 

 that additional facts are presented in life history, habit and 

 adaptation to environment. 



The preparation of wax casts from plaster moulds, the 

 animals being posed in active positions from life, has been very 

 largely the method of the work, and the results display 

 accurate life form and texture. The final illusion has been 

 given by coloring directly from living animals. That the work 

 has resulted in setting before the visitor to the Museum the 

 beginning of a collection of lifelike amphibia, forms hitherto 

 shown in alcoholic specimens only, and the beginning of a 

 similar series of reptiles, is due largely to the excellent crafts- 

 manship of the preparators, Messrs. Dwight Franklin and 

 Thomas Bleakney, to Mr. F. Blaschke in those cases where 

 the forms were modeled instead of cast directly, and to 

 Mr. G. C. Bell in some dozen cases where complex piece 

 moulds were necessary. The total number of casts and 

 models for the synoptic series, completed or nearly so, is 

 eighty-eight. 



There is in preparation also a series of skeletons. These are 

 posed in life positions and show not only osteological facts but 

 also emphasize facts of popular interest, such as the spreading 

 of the ribs to form the hood of the cobra. These skeletons, 

 to the number of eighteen, have been prepared by Mr. Adolph 

 Elwyn of the Department of Physiology. 



A series of groups to cover the herpetology of North 

 America, as the Habitat Bird Groups cover the ornithology, 



* Report prepared by Mary C. Dickerson, Assistant Curator of Herpetology. 



