Report of the President 55 



last five years in perfecting the incomplete files; this success 

 is due in equal measure to the diligence of the Assistant 

 Librarian and to the favor with which most of the foreign 

 institutions receive our requests. ' The needs in this branch of 

 the library are confined in the most part to the volumes of 

 the early years, dating in many instances to the eighteenth 

 century, which can be obtained only by purchase. 



The most pressing need undoubtedly is the addition of 

 numerous standard works in natural history, which are impor- 

 tant to both the student and the general reader. There is no 

 department in the Museum that is not handicapped by the 

 lack of these works, most of which are out of print and can 

 be purchased only as they happen to appear in the foreign 

 markets. The appropriation of special funds for the purchase 

 of these classics is urgently requested, since each year makes 

 them more scarce with the consequent rise in value; for this 

 reason such accessions must be considered one of the very 

 best assets of the Museum. 



The shelf-room of the library has been overcrowded for 

 many months, and it is a delight to report that more space, 

 continuous with the present stack-room, has been planned for 

 immediate use. Another welcome addition is the proposed 

 Faculty Room, where all the new natural history literature can 

 be placed for the use of the various Curators. To equip a 

 reading room with all the popular and non-technical books 

 relating to natural history, open at all times to the visitor, is 

 a project which the Curator has contemplated for several 

 years. The expense of such an undertaking would not be 

 burdensome, but the equipment should be placed on one of 

 the exhibition floors where it would be readily accessible. It 

 is believed that such a room would be much used and of im- 

 portant educational value. 



During the year important gifts have been made to the 

 library, the most noteworthy of which were contributed by 

 Professor J. J. Stevenson, Professor Henry Fairfield Osborn, 

 Mr. William G. DeWitt, Mrs. C. L. Weeks, and particularly 

 Mr. Cleveland H. Dodge, who has supplied all of the publica- 

 tions of the Carnegie Institution pertinent to our subject. For 

 these and all other gifts the library is greatly indebted. 



