6 



in its final arrangement, or in that of the Geological Exhibition 

 Room. Extensive changes have been undertaken in the North 

 American Faunal Room to accommodate the Greene Smith Col- 

 lection of Birds. 



We have continued to fill a few of the gaps existing in our 

 collections by purchases, mainly from Ward. Our greatest de- 

 siderata are now in the African Room, where we should have, in 

 order to make the collection more characteristic, a good Hippo- 

 potamus, a Giraffe, and a few additional Antelopes. We have 

 devoted one of the wall cases of that room to the Fauna of Mad- 

 agascar. All the Lemurs and other characteristic Madagascar 

 Mammals, as well as the few Madagascar Birds formerly in our 

 African Faunal Collection, have now been placed in the cases 

 devoted to the Fauna of Madagascar. It is astonishing to see 

 how the peculiar mammalian fauna of that island gains in dis- 

 tinctness, noW that it is separated from its African surroundings. 

 This and the Australian faunal exhibits show at a glance the 

 value of such an arrangement in our Museum. 



The rooms containing the Quaternary Pampas Vertebrate Fos- 

 sils, and a few Tertiary Mammals, are now open to the public. 

 No more interesting exhibit could be made than by supplement- 

 ing what has already been placed on exhibition with a series of 

 our North American Fossil Vertebrates. 



The collections of the Museum continue in good condition. I 

 regret that Dr. Hagen's prolonged ill-health has made it impossi- 

 ble for him to attend to his usual duties at the Museum. Owing 

 to our insufficient means, we have been unable to continue Pro- 

 fessor Hyatt's salary at the "Museum. He has, however, kindly 

 consented to keep a general supervision over the palseontological 

 collections, which of course suffer less from want of attention 

 than our more perishable zoological material. It has been found 

 necessary to give more care to the latter, and Professor Walter 

 Faxon has been placed in charge of the Invertebrate collections. 



Professor Edmond Perrier has returned the Starfishes of the 

 " Blake " which had been sent to him for examination, and has 

 at the same time presented to the Museum, in behalf of the 

 Jardin des Hantcs, an extensive series of the Starfishes of the 

 kk Talisman " expedition, types of the species described by him. 



Professor Alphonse Milne-Edwards has now returned the 

 " Blake" Crustacea, with the exception of the Galatheoids, which 



