REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR AND STATE GEOLOGIST 1902 1*129 



These occupied the time of the assistant till Mar. 1, when he 

 took his vacation. This was spent in an examination of a num- 

 ber of European natural history museums, on which a short re- 

 port is appended. After his return May 1, the assistant spent 

 considerable time in collecting in the vicinity of Albany. Short 

 trips were also made to several other places, including Averill 

 Park, Altamont, Howes Cave, in order to investigate cave fauna; 

 Peekskill, Catskill, Aquetuck, in order to investigate the find- 

 ing of a supposed Quaternary horse, which a careful examination 

 has shown to be indistinguishable from the modern horse, E q u u s 

 caballus ; Sheffield Mass., in search of rattlesnakes ; and 

 Cold Spring Harbor. The entire month of August was spent in 

 the Adirondacks, the places visited being White Lake, Oneida co., 

 Wilmurt, Herkimer co., and Keeseville and Upper Jay, Essex co. 

 Considerable valuable information concerning the distribution 

 of various forms was obtained. September was spent on Long 

 Island continuing the investigation of the edible crab, and a re- 

 port is appended on the commercial relations of that form. 



The only publication of the department of zoology during the 

 year was the catalogue of the reptiles and batrachians of New 

 York prepared by the assistant, Dr Paulmier, and Mr Eckel. 

 This was intended only as a preliminary catalogue, but has been 

 very well received and has been the means of interesting a num- 

 ber of people in different parts of the State in these forms and 

 has resulted in a number of additions to the collections. It is 

 hoped that in this way sufficient specimens and information con- 

 cerning their distribution may be obtained to permit of the pub- 

 lication of a more complete catalogue. 



No changes of any importance have been made in the arrange- 

 "ment of the specimens on the fourth floor, but the very tine col- 

 lection of domestic fowl formerly the property of the New York 

 State Agricultural Society, on the first floor of the rear wing, has 

 been placed in the custody of the Museum, and a number of speci- 

 mens have been placed on polished bases. 



A number of the vivariums which were mentioned in the last 

 report were kept on exhibition during the winter and attracted 



