HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM 



SCIENTIFIC STAFF 



Professor 

 A. S. Bick- 

 more, 1869. 



Dr. J. B. 



Holder, 



1872-1888. 



Dr. J. A. 



Allen, 



1885- 



As Superintendent of the Museum, Professor A. S. Bickmore had 

 general charge of the mammals and birds during the early develop- 

 ment of this department. In 1872 Dr. J. B. Holder was appointed a 

 general assistant to Professor Bickmore and devoted his attention to 

 the zoological collections. He was made Curator of Zoology in 1881. 

 In 1885 the Department of Zoology was divided into two departments 

 —that of Mammals and Birds, and Marine Zoology. Dr. Holder was 

 Curator of the latter, which position he held until his death in 1888, 

 having been in the service of the Museum for seventeen years. Dr. 

 Holder was an associate of Professor Agassiz and Professor Baird and 

 had made important investigation on the fauna of New England waters 

 and later in Florida. He was a voluminous writer, and made many 

 important contributions to science. 



In 1885 Dr. J. A. Allen was made Curator of the Department of 

 Mammals and Birds. Dr. Allen had studied under Agassiz, and served 

 as an assistant in ornithology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology 

 at Harvard. He had already become an authority in several lines of 

 research. When Dr. Allen assumed charge of the Department, the 

 collection of mammals numbered not far from 1,000 mounted skins, 

 and about 300 mounted skeletons. The collection of birds numbered 

 about 10,000 mounted specimens, and about 300 unmounted skins, 

 besides several hundred mounted skeletons. Through Dr. Allen's 

 efforts the Department of Taxidermy was established in 1886. He also 

 started the first study collections, which a year after his appointment 

 numbered 6,000 skins of birds, and from his department also, the first 

 expedition organized for collecting and exploring was sent out. Under 

 his guidance this department has had continuous growth, and at the 

 present time the collections comprise more than 30,000 mammals and 

 90,000 birds in the exhibition and study series. Dr. Allen is recognized 

 as one of the foremost authorities on mammals and birds, and his 

 numerous contributions to systematic zoology are widely recognized 

 as of the highest merit. Besides carrying on his numerous researches, 



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