1880.] 
5 
[Annual Meeting. 
illustrated by the natural objects which they will describe. These 
Guides can be printed at such a slight nominal cost, that their 
number will prove no obstacle to their general use by visitors* 
The “Special Guides” will appear subsequently, as opportunity 
offers, and the collections become sufficiently comjfiete. 
The visitor who comes for a mere walk through the Museum is 
advised to read the “ Introduction,” before proceeding to the re- 
view of the collections themselves. Those who come for more 
specific information must be governed by their needs, but if they 
have no knowledge of Natural History, the General Guide will be 
of use to them. If other visits are contemplated or carried out, 
then a systematic course should be adopted. First, the general 
survey of the Museum, as given in the General Guide, should be 
taken, then, if a desire is excited to examine more closely any one 
of these departments, the Special Guide for that department, when 
published, will afford that opportunity. 
Collections. 
The necessary preparations for the publication of the General 
Guide has occupied a large part of the time of the Assistants and 
Custodian during the past year. 
The numbering of all the cases in the building, the lettering of 
the rooms and galleries, and the construction of two new fioor 
cases has been completed. It was also found necessary to form 
synoptical collections for the departments of Mineralogy, Geology, 
Comparative Anatomy, and Paleontology and to rearrange all of 
these collections. This has been to a great extent completed as 
will be seen in the reports of the various departments. 
Mr. Bouve, assisted by Mr. Crosby, has been engaged in picking 
out suites of minerals, amounting to 300 specimens in all, designed 
to illustrate the physical and chemical characters of minerals, and 
to form part of the introductory or synoptical mineralogical col- 
lection. 
Mr. Crosby’s attention has been directed almost exclusively to 
the Geological Department. With the assistance of Miss Carter, 
about 2500 specimens of rocks have been catalogued ; and of these 
nearly 2000 have been mounted and labelled, and are now on 
exhibition. Included in the above total are : 
