Report of the President 3 z 



department, it is my intention to have those of the various 

 other departments card-indexed. In this work we have now 

 in our files nearly 5,000 completed indexed cards, and I am in 

 hopes that, in the next six or eight months, the entire list of 

 the acquisitions of the Museum will be completed." 



The Registrar also reports that during the year his office 

 handled 1,432 incoming and outgoing shipments, comprising 

 2,473 packages. It is to be regretted that at present it is not 

 possible to provide a suitable room for the handling of ship- 

 ments of all kinds, but this is a matter that cannot properly 

 be arranged for until the construction of the west central sec- 

 tion, where such an office ultimately should be located. 



It is also gratifying to record that, as shown by the reports 

 of the various departments, the work of cataloguing the collec- 

 tions has been carried on in a most satisfactory manner, this 

 too, when, as in the case of the Departments of Mam- 

 malogy and of Anthropology, accessions have been unusually 

 numerous. 



While much has been accomplished, a vast amount remains 

 to be done to care for the study collections and to bring the 

 exhibits up to modern standards of installation and educational 

 value. As a single item, 100,000 labels, at a moderate esti- 

 mate, are needed for the proper labeling of the various collec- 

 tions, and the writing and printing of these is a task of no 

 small magnitude. In anticipation of this work a new printing 

 room will be constructed as soon as possible, a new press has 

 been ordered and another assistant will be engaged as soon as 

 this is available. The present equipment is quite inadequate 

 for the needs of the Museum, while the printing of the many 

 documents, circulars and cards absolutely necessary for the 

 proper carrying on of various branches of the work of the 

 Museum make great demands upon the present printing 

 force. 



It will seem scarcely credible to the present generation 

 that, thirty years ago, there was practically not a group of 

 animals nor a descriptive label in any museum in the United 

 States, but such is the case. It is amusing to the present 

 generation to think that, in 1880, Dr. Coues expressed his 

 belief that few mammals remained to be discovered in North 



