part of one of the murals by Jay Malternes on the right. Smithsonian Year 1975. 



The American Mammoth fManimuthusj just clears the 



The Insect Zoo 



The Insect Zoo is a real success story. It began in the 

 early 1970s as an idea of Ronald Gore, then a special 

 assistant to the director. For several years it was in 

 operation during the summers only, in the northeast 

 corner of the second floor at the junction of Halls 21 

 and 22. The life in the zoo provided a counterpoint 

 and a welcome relief after the cases of archeology in 

 the adjacent halls. The entire operation was run by 

 volunteers supervised by the Museum staff. A number 

 of the entomologists contributed insects, and one day 

 a serious memorandum was issued from the director's 

 office asking for volunteers to feed the mosquitoes. 

 During the summer of 1975, after the zoo closed, a 

 vertebrate paleontology preparator worked on display 

 in this area, and the tourists used to gather to watch 

 him remove the matrix from a bone. 



The Exhibits Committee decided to run the Insect 

 Zoo year-round, and it reopened in August 1976, in 

 time for the meeting of the International Entomological 

 Congress in Washington. From the first day it attracted 

 crowds. Although there are a number of behind-the- 



scenes problems in keeping these short-lived animals 

 in cages, especially rearing more insects as replacement 

 stock, the zoo is likely to remain in the Museum as a 

 permanent display of living organisms. To reach it, one 

 walks through the Hall of Osteology. If one waits in 

 the right place in that hall, invariably an adult will be 

 heard to say, "I didn't know snakes had bones." 



Other Exhibitions 



Splendors of Nature^^ in Hall lOA, where the National 

 Collection of Fine Arts once spilled out of its bounds, 

 has been another big success. "Museum Director Porter 

 Kier's idea was not to provide any scientific message as 

 the Museum ordinarily does in its exhibits, but rather 

 each object was to be on view in the hall for just one 

 reason — because it is beautiful," said the 1978 Smith- 

 sonian Frar.'' Hall lOA, incidentally, represents the only 

 addition ever made to Rathbun's original numbering 

 scheme. This area at the north end of the north wing 

 is noteworthy for one other feature. Except for the 

 north stairway, it is the only public place in the Museum 

 where visitors can look out of windows. 



122 



The Exhibits 



