Oct.  1897. 
Annual  Report  of  the  Director. 
193 
The  installation  in  the  Department  of  Anthropology  has  been 
much  improved  during  the  year  by  the  addition  of  a  number  of  ebony 
cases  containing  the  Hutchinson  Etruscan  material  referred  to  else- 
where, and  material  obtained  by  the  President  of  the  Museum  while 
abroad  last  winter.  The  general  arrangement  of  the  department, 
with  this  exception,  remains  unaltered,  although  individual  cases 
have  been  changed  about  more  or  less,  and  the  installation  re-arranged 
and  brought  to  a  higher  standard  in  a  number  of  halls,  more  espe- 
cially in  the  hall  devoted  to  Egyptology. 
The  exhibits  in  the  divisions  of  Mammalogy  and  Osteology  in 
the  department  of  Zoology  have  been  re-arranged  and  classified,  and 
the  cases  in  the  latter  division  have  been  painted  black  inside,  show- 
ing their  contents  to  better  advantage  than  before.  Much  work  has 
been  accomplished  in  preserving  and  mounting  insects  of  many  kinds. 
Numerous  cocoons  have  been  collected  and  a  small  hatchery  com- 
menced, which,  it  is  trusted,  will  bear  fruit  next  spring.  The  spirit 
formaline  in  which  the  specimens  of  fishes  were  preserved  failed 
under  the  extreme  low  temperature  which  the  exhibition  halls  reached 
at  night  during  the  winter,  and  alcohol  has  been  or  is  to  be  substi- 
tuted in  all  instances  and  the  specimens  placed  upon  upright  plaster 
slabs  within  the  jars,  thus  showing  them  to  better  advantage.  In  the 
west  court  this  department  has  installed  two  very  notable  groups  — 
the  musk  ox  and  the  lesser  koodoo.  The  taxidermy  has  been  nearly 
completed,  and  the  case  provided,  for  a  collection  of  Waller's  gazelles. 
The  striking  manner  in  which  these  three  rare  and  interesting  groups  of 
animals  are  arranged  and  posed,  the  life  action  and  naturalness  of 
the  picture  presented,  no  less  than  the  scientific  fidelity  and  faithful- 
ness of  accessories,  stamp  them  at  once  as  of  the  very  highest 
character  of  work  that  can  be  performed.  In  the  musk-ox  group 
seven  animals  are  most  attractively  disposed  upon  a  field  of  snow, 
through  which  a  huge  rock  protrudes,  surmounted  by  a  splendid 
male  in  a  commanding  attitude.  Others  of  the  herd  are  seeking 
in  the  snow  with  hoof  and  nose  for  what  lichens  may  be  concealed 
beneath.  Everything  about  the  group  is  full  of  quiet,  natural  life: 
everything  is  harmonious  and  realistic.  In  the  koodoo  and  the 
gazelle  groups  the  same  high  character  of  art  is  manifest.  In  the 
former  a  striking  accessory  is  an  ant  hill,  upon  which  is  perched 
an  African  owl.  The  trees  and  growing  things  are  true  to  life,  and, 
although  the  area  is  limited,  the  impressions  of  the  desert  are  forc- 
ibly conveyed  to  the  spectator.  The  gazelle  group  presents  that 
graceful  animal  in  most  effective  and  dramatic  grouping,  finished  in 
every  artistic  detail,  and  complete  in  every  requirement  of  the  scien- 
