Museum of Natural History. 



Report of the Curator. 



To the Directors and Members of the City Library Association: — 



The fourteenth annual report of the Museum of Natural History 

 is hereby respectfully submitted. 



Administration. 



In the year covered by this report, May, 1907, to May, 1908, oppor- 

 tunity has been given for work on a systematic catalogue of the 

 collections. The general scheme has been outlined and a good begin- 

 ning made. The card catalogue of the birds is nearly completed. 

 From this one may easily find the total specimens of each class 

 received by the museum, those which are still kept in the collections 

 and the disposition made of duplicates. Accessions of the past year 

 have been given in each case a serial number and immediately cata- 

 logued, while definite progress has been made in listing material 

 received in previous years. Delay in the latter work has been un- 

 avoidable because the early records of the museum are in many cases 

 incomplete. Several years will be required to complete the cata- 

 logue. It will, when finished, include: — 



1. A chronological list of accessions in the order of museum 

 numbers, to which will be added all notes, newspaper clippings, and 

 information of value and interest in connection with the specimens. 



2. A card catalogue of donors with cross reference to the mu- 

 seum numbers in above list. 



3. A systematic card catalogue, in which mention will be found 

 of every specimen, dissection, or preparation of any animal or plant 

 in the museum under the name of the animal or the plant, and in 

 which the curiosities will be classified under the respective countries 

 or historical periods. 



Such a systematic catalogue will make easily available for study 

 museum material not in the exhibition cases. 



