246 Field Museum of Natural History — Reports, Vol. III. 



galleries have been recased; and the cases installed and labeled, the 

 old installation removed from the west galleries, properly reclassified 

 and distributed into systematic storage preparatory to installation; 

 and the entire west galleries recased with the exception of a small 

 space reserved for the work of present installation. The large collec- 

 tions of heterogeneous timber specimens of Australia, British Guiana, 

 Venezuela, Paraguay, and Brazil (Amazonas and Parana) have been 

 resawed, re-dressed, and rendered homogeneous, and the following new 

 installations accomplished: One case showing log, plank, and tree 

 growth sections of the Russian Oak and Ash ; a similar case represent- 

 ing six other species of the hard woods of the Empire, and two others 

 detailing the coniferous woods; the specimens comprising this in- 

 stallation are ample and highly representative and were received from 

 the Imperial Forestry Bureau. One case comprising the principal 

 and most interesting timbers of Formosa, showing the bark, grain of 

 the wood, and its susceptibility of finish. Seven cases have been in- 

 stalled with Japanese dendrologic material, making a total of nine 

 cases devoted to the timbers of that country. The new installation 

 comprises in three cases an excellent and unique series of the major 

 construction timbers in fine and representative examples, one case of 

 the cabinet timbers in ample size to show their markings and suscepti- 

 bility to polish, another of other species showing the rarer forms and 

 specialized marking; another case illustrating the special timbers 

 utilized for "toko posts" ; a case illustrating the growth by decades of 

 seven species of conifers, and one case detailing the use of the bamboo 

 as construction material. Three cases exemplifying the timbers of 

 British India, in one of which is placed a round table top of padouk 

 (Pterocarpus indicus) over 6 feet in diameter, cut from a single board, 

 and specimens of blackwood (Dalbergia nigra) illustrating its adapta- 

 bility for large carvings and sculptures; and in two others a long 

 series of the principal woods of the country in ample examples. Three 

 cases illustrating, by large specimens, the principally utilized con- 

 struction timbers of Australia. These are doubtless the finest ex- 

 amples of these timbers ever brought to this country and adequately 

 represent the size to which the trees yielding them grow as well as the 

 grain and the other characters of each species. Three cases devoted to 

 the more valuable and most frequently exported timbers of Brazil; 

 one of these illustrates the species in plank form and two, the bark 

 and wood characters in apposition. All the specimens in the above 

 cases have been fully and descriptively labeled and present an appear- 



