MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



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of the collections, coupled with satisfying variety in nature of 

 specimens and form of presentation, so that visitors are neither 

 bewildered nor wearied. Large recognition is also made of local 

 archaeology, fauna, flora, and rock formations. 



In other words, the museum "wears well." With a staff decidedly 

 limited in numbers, the routine work has been carried on, and each 

 year some new features added. 



Cataloguing. 



The work of cataloguing the objects in the museum has been 

 distributed, during the past year, over different departments. A 

 large part of the botanical specimens are now catalogued, and subject 

 slips have been made for nearly all the mollusks, which were well 

 represented in the early collections of the museum by over a thou- 

 sand kinds of shells. Mr. Arthur P. Irving has assisted in cata- 

 loguing the lantern slides in the museum, most of which were given 

 by Miss Fannie A. Stebbins. In connection with preparation for 

 the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the museum, a list 

 of donors has been completed and numbers over 900 names. A 

 careful examination of scattered records in early reports of the 

 City Library Association and museum, and of data on labels of 

 specimens, was necessary, and the names of givers range from 

 those who have contributed a single object — a common insect or an 

 arrowhead — to those who have added entire collections of hundreds 

 of specimens, or specimens worth hundreds of dollars. 



The method of cataloguing on slips, contrived especially for this 

 museum by Dr. George Dimmock, which was described in the annual 

 report for 1908, was briefly explained by him at the meeting of the 

 New England Federation of Natural History Societies, at the museum 

 last September, and copies of slips actually in use were shown. 



Publications. 



In view of the favorable comment called forth by the monographs 

 heretofore issued under the auspices of the museum, it is a pleasure 

 to announce the completion and publication of a second bulletin of 

 the museum, that by Miss Fannie A. Stebbins on "Insect Galls of 

 Springfield, Massachusetts, and Vicinity." This monograph is to be 

 sent to scientific societies, museums, and periodicals from which the 

 museum receives publications in exchange. The bulletin contains 

 descriptions and bibliography of 205 species of galls, of which 34 



