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Annual Report.] 168 [May 1, 
ficers to whom specimens are loaned. The rent paid by the 
Institute, four hundred dollars per annum, though only a fair 
equivalent for these advantages, is really so much additional 
income, which the Society appropriates to its own purposes. 
That the judicious use of specimens is perfectly compatible 
with their safe keeping,is shown by these facts, and by the 
present condition of the Osteological and Zoological collec- 
tions. The specimens of these departments have not only 
been frequently used as described above, but also in the illus- 
tration of our public evening courses, and yet in no case do 
they show the effects of careless handling; even if a certain 
amount of wear and tear should take place in the course of 
several years, it must be remembered that the specimens 
loaned for the purposes of illustration are not the rarest of 
their kind, but such as can be easily and readily replaced by 
purchase. | 
A considerable portion of my last Report was devoted to 
the discussion of a proposed plan of organization. The re- 
arrangement of the Museum in accordance with this plan has 
been begun by the building of suitable cases for the reception 
of the Ornithological Collection in the uppermost gallery of 
the main hall. These cases having been completed the birds 
are now being removed into them from the gallery and rooms 
below, by Mr. J. A. Allen. 
Extraordinary precautions were taken in order to render 
these cases absolutely insect tight. The lumber was very 
carefully selected and kept heated while the work was going 
on, all joints were tongued, grooved and glued. The tops, 
bottoms and sides, were built into the plastering, the sashes 
grooved and tongued and locked by wedge-shaped bolts. 
The latter were invented in order to draw the sashes up 
tightly and firmly against the tongues at the top and bottom, 
and completely close the fronts of each case. Morse’s patent 
brackets are used to suspend the shelving, which hangs upon 
the wall, and has no connection with the fronts. The success 
of these precautions is shown by the air tight condition of the 
