56 Report of the President 



groups, formerly in the East Wing, where they now await the 

 preparation of permanent quarters. Other changes include 

 the assembling of all the African mammals in the African 

 Hall, and the removal from the gallery of the East Wing of 

 the mounted mammals formerly on exhibition there, to make 

 room for the early completion of the systematic collection of 

 mammals. 



Installation work in progress comprises the remounting of 

 the Pacific Walrus, and the preparation of a Colobus Monkey 

 Group and a Fruit Bat Group, all now nearly completed. 



During the past year the research collection of mammal 



skins has been revised, poisoned, and rearranged as additional 



storage facilities have become available. Also 



— „ . considerable progress has been made with the 



Collections 1 , , , 



rearrangement and storage of the osteological 



material, for which more convenient quarters have become 

 available. 



During the last five years the additions to the Cetacean 

 collection have made it one of the most complete in the world. 

 Of the larger types of whales the Bowhead and 

 . Humpback are the only prominent desiderata, a 



fine skeleton of the latter having unfortunately 

 been destroyed by fire at an establishment to which it had 

 been sent for preparation. The California Gray Whale skele- 

 ton, secured last year in Korea, and the first skeleton of this 

 species received by any American museum, proves to be an 

 especially interesting type, it being the most primitive of the 

 existing baleen whales. A memoir on this species has already 

 been completed by Assistant Curator Andrews, and other 

 monographs by him upon the Pacific Cetacea are in prepara- 

 tion. 



Other research work accomplished during the year or in 



progress is based mainly on the recent accessions of birds and 



mammals from South America. Curator Chap- 



___ man has been engaged for the past six months, 



vv o rk 



and will be occupied for much time in the future, 



in working out the large collections of birds, his report on 



which will comprise not only a critical revision of the species, 



with descriptions of many new forms, but a study of their 



