HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM 
results of which formed valuable contributions to the knowledge of 
entomology. 
Raymond Mr. Raymond Lee Ditmars, the present Curator of Reptiles in the 
I'ssi-iss?"'' New York Zoological Park, served the Museum as Assistant Curator 
of Entomology from 1891 until 1897. He also prepared the Museum's 
Guide Leaflet on "Reptiles of the Vicinity of New York City," which 
was published in 1905. 
Protozoans. 
INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 
The present Department of Invertebrate Zoology was established 
in 1901. The departments of Conchology and Entomology were 
merged in it in 1909. The collections in Invertebrate Zoology, except 
in regard to shells, developed slowly through the first years of the 
Museum's life, though many gifts of corals, sponges, sea urchins, etc., 
were received before the Arsenal was vacated. In 1885 this material 
was brought over to the new building where, because of lack of space, 
only the most important specimens were exhibited, the remainder 
being stored in the basement, where it remained until about 1890. 
Most of the collections, excepting the models of the lower invertebrates, 
which were made at the Museum, have been acquired through gift and 
expeditions. Until 1901 Prof. R. P. Whitfield served as curator of 
these collections. 
The first important accession to this Department was the collec- 
tion of corals presented in 1885 by Mr. Percy R. Pyne. 
Invertebrate material ranging from mollusca and crustaceans 
through the lowest branches of the animal kingdom, from the Atlantic 
and Pacific waters, have been received at various times since 1873 as 
a result of the deep-sea dredgings conducted by the United States 
Fish Commission. 
Many of the animals in the various groups of invertebrates are so 
minute, or their anatomical structure is so complicated, that it is not 
practicable to place the original specimens on exhibition. In order 
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