38 Report of the President 



It may be noted that progress in electric lighting has been 

 so rapid that many of the lights and fixtures in the Museum are 

 antiquated and utterly inadequate. They are being replaced 

 as rapidly as possible, but here again a special appropriation 

 must be made or the work will drag for many years. 



It should also be said in this connection that the present 

 boilers and dynamos are not of sufficient power to permit the 

 lighting of the entire building at one time. 



By authorization of the Board of Estimate and Apportion- 

 ment and the Board of Aldermen, the sum of $10,000 was 

 made available to provide for the more necessary repairs; in 

 addition to this $8,500 was expended from the Trustees' funds. 

 This has been used for extensive repairs to the roofs of various 

 parts of the building, to replace many poor window sash, 

 repaint the exposed woodwork, repoint a large portion of the 

 stonework on the south and west fronts, replace worn and 

 leaky skylights and perform other badly needed work. It is 

 to be borne in mind that the Museum has a very large roof 

 area and that its total frontage exposed to weather is some- 

 what over 2,000 feet, very much over a third of a mile. To 

 keep all this in good repair calls for an expenditure of from 

 $12,000 to $15,000 yearly. 



Owing to the great injury to specimens from exposure to 

 direct light,* a sandblast outfit has been purchased and the 

 work of transforming the windows into ground glass com- 

 menced. Much has been done, though the work unfortunately 

 proceeds slowly, owing to the numerous unavoidable interrup- 

 tions; but it is hoped to complete some of the more important 

 halls during the coming year. 



All in all, it may be said that the collections, the exhibition 

 halls and the general equipment of the Museum, are in better 

 condition than for many years past, and that steady progress 

 has been made in the registration of material of all kinds 

 and in the record of the various branches of the work of 

 the Museum. 



* The greatest injury is done to the mammals, birds, birds' eggs and insects, and the 

 exhibits of all these objects have suffered severely by exposure to light. Many of the 

 mammals now on exhibition are worthless and some have been ruined in the short space of 

 five years. 



