Report of the President 20 



The Members' Room, mentioned in the Report for 1910 

 has been finished, furnished and opened; it provides a place 

 where Members and their friends may rest, write letters and 

 consult the publications of the Museum. 



The office formerly occupied by the Curator of the Depart- 

 ment of Mineralogy has been taken for a plan room, for the 

 keeping of the ever accumulating plans of the building and of 

 its various subdivisions. Adjoining this a room has been pro- 

 vided for a draftsman and for the telephone office. The 

 present telephone equipment calls for the use of all the wires 

 in the original cable, and arrangements have been made for a 

 new cable which will carry sufficient wires to accommodate 

 the telephone service for many years to come. 



New Exhibitions. — Many new and important pieces have 

 been added to the exhibits of the Department of Vertebrate 

 Palaeontology, and the very interesting and instructive series 

 illustrating stages in the evolution of the horse has been 

 extended and rearranged. The growth of this exhibit, which 

 is steadily assuming more and more importance, and now 

 includes examples of modern horses, raises the question 

 whether it may not be well to provide a small special hall 

 for its display in some future section of the building. 



Changes and improvements have been made in almost 

 every exhibition hall, and the principal of them will be found 

 noted in the reports of the various departments. Among the 

 most important is the removal of the groups of New York mam- 

 mals to the Hall of North American Mammals, where they 

 are displayed to much better advantage than formerly. The 

 greatest gain, however, is to be found in the fact that this 

 change provides room for the exhibits of the Departments of 

 Public Health and of Anatomy and Physiology. The first 

 mentioned of these has never had a local habitation and a 

 home, while the exhibits of the latter department were with- 

 drawn " temporarily" some time ago to make room for other 

 things. Among other improvements well advanced are, on 

 the second floor, a Children's Room, to contain exhibits es- 

 pecially adapted to their interest and point of view, and a 

 reading room where visitors will find books and periodicals of 

 a general character and of popular interest. A room for the 



