Annual Report.] 226 [May 3, 



COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 



The Committee found this collection in poor condition at 

 the beginning of the year, and much time was expended in 

 cleaning the specimens and cases. The sashes of the latter 

 had been loosened and admitted the dust freely, but this to 

 some extent has been corrected by a system of fastenings 

 devised by Mr. Sanborn. 



The whole collection is now in excellent order. The Soci- 

 ety owes this to the exertions of Dr. D wight and his assist- 

 ant, Mr. Fletcher M. Abbott. The most important addition 

 is the skeleton of a whale, the carcass of which was presented 

 by Harvey T. Litchfield, Esq. 



This skeleton is probably the most perfect in this country, 

 and was secured to this Society for the small sum of $275.00. 

 It is now in course of preparation, and will be described and 

 mounted by Dr. D wight. The Society owes the perfection 

 of the skeleton principally to Mr. Sanborn's constant care 

 of the carcass until the bones were safely secured in the 

 building. 



A skeleton of Globicephahis melas, common "black fish," 

 of our coast, has been sorted out from a confused mass of 

 bones with great labor, by Dr. Dwight, and is now mounted. 

 The specimen referred to is over fifteen feet in length. 



A collection of the disarticulated bones, or rather parts, of 

 the skeletons of the representative forms of the mammalia 

 have been preserved, mounted and placed on exhibition. 

 This collection enables the student to compare the morpho- 

 logical relations of the anterior and posterior extremities in 

 each type, and the general and special relations of the parts 

 of the skeleton to each other throughout. Thus a visitor is 

 able to observe either one single typical skeleton, standing 

 vertically with all the parts slightly separated, but still suffi- 

 ciently near to each other to show their dependence ; or he 

 may run his eye through the whole series, isolating some one 



