1873.] O [Annual Report. 



entrance floor for the reception of the valuable Herbarium 

 presented by John Amory Lowell, Esq. 



The superintendence of the exchange of the various col- 

 lections of the two galleries occupied most of Prof. Hyatt's 

 time before his departure for Europe, in August. These 

 changes, suggested and executed by Prof. Hyatt, enable the 

 visitor, by entering the first gallery and passing around to the 

 right, to study, in order, the Zoological collections, beginning 

 with the sponges and passing to the higher groups. In this 

 series, the birds will be represented by a type collection rep- 

 resenting the principal modifications of the group, while the 

 grand ornithological collection will be confined to the gallery 

 above, and from its great size can never be of great value as 

 an instructive public collection. That portion of the gallery 

 unoccupied by the general collections, is reserved for the 

 New England Faunal collections, which are quite complete, 

 except in the group of Mammals. This, however, can be 

 readily improved. The New England insects will occupy the 

 railing cases around the gallery, the Coleoptera and Lepi- 

 doptera being already displayed and identified as far as possi- 

 ble, and the other groups will be added, I hope, before long. 



The position of assistant in the Museum, left vacant by 

 the resignation of Mr. F. G. Sanborn last May, has been 

 filled by Mr. James H. Emerton. Mr. Emerton entered 

 upon his duties in June, and his work will show for itself 

 throughout the remainder of this report. 



A beginning at a comprehensive system of labelling the 

 collections has been made. Large labels have already been 

 placed over the zoological collections indicating the class 

 groups, and others will soon be added, showing the families 

 or giving other information. This is an important step 

 towards publishing a visitor's catalogue, and will add greatly 

 to the value of the Museum as a means of instruction. 

 The Crustacea and a few other groups have also been la- 

 belled with printed labels, and their neatness and legibility is 

 so striking that it would be well to replace the old labels in 

 a similar way, throughout the Museum. 



