Report of the President. 23 



Considerable work has been done in the Synoptic Hall, 

 which is now also used as temporary quarters for the mounted 

 collection of reptiles and batrachians. Groups of the follow- 

 ing forms have been mounted and placed in this hall: Land- 

 crabs of the Bahamas, Copperhead Snakes, Mexican Iguana, 

 Mexican Heloderma, and Texas Rattlesnakes. Two collec- 

 tions representing the local reptiles and amphibians have also 

 been installed. These latter were brought together to illus- 

 trate two guide leaflets, written by R. L. Ditmars, of the New 

 York Zoological Park, and published by the Museum. 



Dr. Dahlgren and Mr. Mueller have constructed twelve 

 models of marine and fresh-water invertebrates, nearly com- 

 pleting the series of Coelenterate types and making an impor- 

 tant addition to the Rotiferan and Polyzoan alcoves, which 

 hitherto have been almost empty. Descriptive labels of the 

 new groups have been completed. 



Among a number of important acquisitions, special mention 

 should be made of a fine series of Philippine corals, a mag- 

 nificent sea-fan and two enormous Tridacna shells, all pur- 

 chased by the Museum. ■ 



During May, Dr. Wheeler, the Curator, made an expedition 

 to New Mexico, Arizona and California for the purpose of 

 studying the invertebrate fauna and the vegetation of the desert. 

 The nesting habits of several interesting species were observed 

 for the first time, and valuable photographs of nest architect- 

 ure, characteristic desert environment, etc., were secured. 



The Assistant Curator, Mr. Sherwood, has given all of his 

 time to superintending and making up the school collections 

 and organizing and participating in the lectures to the school 

 children at the Museum. The small nature-study collections 

 which the Museum loans to the public schools of the City 

 proved so useful to teachers, and the demand for them was so 

 great, that it was found necessary to increase their number. 

 During the summer more than 600 bird skins were purchased 

 and mounted, and new collections of insects and woods were 

 prepared. At the present time there are 400 cabinets of 

 specimens available for this work, representing birds, insects, 

 mollusks, crabs, starfishes, worms, corals, sponges and native 



