Report of the President 63 



Molluscs. Considering the long exposure incidental to its 

 removal, its condition is satisfactory, although time and labor 

 will be required in order that the shells may be freed from 

 accumulated dust and may be arranged properly. It is hoped 

 that this hall may be soon freed of construction work so that 

 the whole collection may be placed in final order. The 

 officers in charge are most anxious that this may be done, 

 while in addition the visiting public shows many evidences of its 

 desire to renew its acquaintance with the collections of shells. 

 Visitors to the Museum are mainly uninstructed in the 

 details of conchology and hence the immediate purpose of a 

 hall is to offer suitable general and educational exhibits. Yet 

 it is increasingly evident that a separate room is desirable for 

 those shells which are more valuable for purposes of study 

 than for exhibition. In pursuance of the first purpose the 

 present intention is to utilize about six cases on the north side 

 of the hall for an exhibit of molluscan fauna of New York 

 State, arranged according to the forthcoming report of Dr. 

 Pilsbry. The other collections will display Industrial and 

 Ornamental Uses of Shells; Variation in Form, Sculpture, 

 Ornamentation, Color, etc., in progressive or mutational 

 series, as in various species of Pyramidula, Cyprcea, Purpura, 

 Pecten, etc. ; Fossil Ancestry of Genera (Ostrea, Fusus) ; 

 Adaptation of Habitats (So/en, Mya, Ostrea, Lithodomus, 

 etc.); Abyssal Forms as contrasted with Littoral or Shallow 

 Water Forms; Eggs, Nidamental Sacs, Capsules and the like. 

 At the front of the hall biological groups will be placed which 

 will illustrate the morphological, physiological and ecological 

 characteristics of Mollusca as distinguished from their taxo- 

 nomic features. 



GEOLOGY AND EXTINCT INVERTEBRATES 



Edmund Otis Hovey, Curator 



Department of Geology and Invertebrate Palaeon- 

 tology. — The chief features of the past year's history in this 

 department pertain to the Crocker Land Expedition and the 

 changes in the installation of the hall. 



