Report of the President 37 



Owing to the lack of an appropriation by the City, the 



construction of the Southeast Wing and Court Building has 



_,.,-. ^ _ not been commenced. Both of these 



Building Operations , ., ,. 



- A ,^ ,_. buildings are much needed, not only 



and Alterations 



for new exhibits, notably the whales 



and other marine mammals, but for the orderly arrangement of 



specimens already on hand. Thus the Asiatic mammals are 



placed wherever space can be made for them, the reptiles and 



fishes are in temporary quarters, while the great carnivorous 



dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus, will be mounted in a hall from which 



they must ultimately be moved at considerable cost. 



Another important but more or less temporary change, 

 due to lack of room, is the removal of all specimens from 

 the Southeast Pavilion, second floor, to provide room for the 

 preparation of the group of African Elephants by Mr. Akeley, 

 and later on for the mounting of other African mammals. 



Through the liberality of Emerson McMillin, the East 

 Assembly, or Academy Room, has been practically made over, 

 the walls covered with felt to prevent the unpleasant echo, 

 and this faced with Caracas cloth. It is intended to com- 

 plete the improvements by replacing the hard tile floor with 

 " Dreadnought " tiling. A similar floor is greatly needed in the 

 West Assembly Hall, where the acoustics are also bad. 



Extensive changes are needed in the large auditorium, 

 which has been unsatisfactory from the very first. Professor 

 Sabine, the eminent authority on acoustics, made a careful 

 examination of this hall and submitted a report on the changes 

 needed. Owing to the cost of the alterations (about $4,000), 

 it is not possible to effect these improvements at present, 

 though every one who has attended a lecture in this hall 

 knows how much they are needed. 



The room for the preparation of skeletons, which has 

 been in very bad condition for some years past, has been prac- 

 tically made over, provided with tileine floor and put in a 

 sanitary condition. 



A room for the display of the groups of reptiles, made 

 necessary by their withdrawal from the Southeast Pavilion, 

 was built in the Central Pavilion, and, as this collection grows, 

 a second room will be needed. These will be temporary, since 



