16 l.IliliMiY 



of fossils. Al)()iit I. ').()()() species [ire represented, (•()iiij)rise(l for the most 

 piirt of the .iiiy uud Haines colleetious. 



M(unin(il(Hjii (1/1(1 ()rnith(>l(Ki!/.- y\.\MM.\iAH'.Y. — Tlie stu(l\- colieetiou 

 of inaiiniials contains ahont :i"), ()()() skins, skulls and skeletons exclusive 

 of the material obtained hy the ( 'on<io Kxjx'dition which has not yet been 

 catalo<i;ued. It is esjx'cially rich in South American forms. Mexico 

 and the Arctic aic well represented; from the latter rej!;ion there is a 

 lar<ie and uniciue series of tlie beautiful white Peary's caribou and of the 

 (Ireenland nniskox, c()m))risin<2; about 150 specimens. ^I'he collection 

 of whales is likewise noteworthy. 



Ornitholoijij. — The study collection of birds consists of ai)proximately 

 125,000 skins and mounted birds, about nine-tenths of wliich are from 

 the Western Hemisphere, and several thousand nests and eggs. South 

 America is chiefly represented by a larj2;e collection from Matto Gro.sso, 

 Brazil, and extensive collections from Colombia; also smaller series from 

 Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and Trinidad. 



From North America, there are imi:)ortant collections from Mexico, 

 Nicaraoua, California, Texas, Arizona and the Middle Atlantic States — 

 the Rocky ^Mountain region being most poorly represented. Of special 

 collections, the Cleorge N. Lawrence and Maximilian collections are of 

 special importance from the hundreds of type specimens which they 

 contain. 



Mineralogy. — ]\Iost of the mineral specimen are on exiiibition, but 

 the ov(M'flow from the public cases forms a study series of no mean propor- 

 tion. 



Public Health. — Living bacteria are maintained and distributed free 

 to recognized laboratories. 



Vertebrate Pake ontology. — The study collections comprise about 

 L5,000 catalogued specimens of fossil mammals, 6,000 fossil reptiles and 

 amphibians and a few hundred fossil birds. Most of these are from the 

 western United States. The collections of fossil horses. Eocene mam- 

 mals and Cretaceous dinosaurs are unrivaled. The fossil rhinoceroses, 

 camels, oreodonts, carnivora. Fayuni, Pami)ean and Patagonian mam- 

 mals, Jurassic dinosaurs, Permian reptiles, turtU^s, etc., are likewise 

 of the first rank. They include more than nin(^ hundred type specimens 

 of fossil mammals and several lumdriHl Xy\w s])ecimens of fossil re])tiles 

 and am})hibians. 



The Museum Library, located on the fifth fioor, contains about 70,000 



volumes on various branches of natural historv (save 

 Library 



botany), anthropology and travel. It is ])articularly 



strong in vertebrate ])aUeontology and scientific ])eriodicals. Like other 



museum libraries, it is of necessity a reference library, but, except on 



