1888 .] 
NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 
489 
REPORT OF THE CURATORS. 
The Curators present the following statement of the Curator-in- 
Charge, Prof. Heilprin, as their report for the year 1888:— 
The Curator-in-Charge respectfully reports that the collections of 
the Academy are in good condition, and that their status, as far as 
classification and arrangement are concerned, has been materially 
improved during the year As heretofore, the Academy has prof¬ 
ited largely through the work of volunteer specialists, and is 
hence placed under special obligation to those who have thus gen¬ 
erously contributed their time and assistance. To Mr. J. H. Red- 
field, Conservator of the herbarium, and to Mr. Thomas Meehan, it 
is almost wholly indebted for the careful work that is being system¬ 
atically applied toward the expansion and proper distribution of the 
botanical collections; while to the officers of the Entomological Sec¬ 
tion and of the American Entomological Society it is placed under 
obligation for work done in connection with the department of ento¬ 
mology. In the death of Mr. George W. Tryon, Jr., its Conservator 
in the department of conchology for thirteen years, the Academy 
has lost one of its truest and most efficient members—one who had 
for a full quarter of a century given much of his daily time to the 
interests of the institution. That the department will feel for some 
time the want of his vast experience, and the absence of his governing 
influence, there can be no question; but it is hoped that under 
the special direction of the new conservator, Mr. H. A. Pilsbry, 
and of the Conchological Section, it will be kept in that command¬ 
ing position which it has so firmly and justly held. 
In the departments other than those here specified the work has 
been done almost wholly under the direction of the Curator-in- 
Charge and his assistant, Mr. J. E. Ives. x4s in preceding years the 
alcoholics have been completely overhauled, and it is satisfactory 
to be able to report that there has been practically no loss in this part 
of the Academy’s collections since the preparation of the last annual 
statement. It is less agreeable to report that during the latter part 
of the present year several attempts to force the ornithological cases 
have been made, with the result of robbing the collection of some 200 
specimens of South American and Australian birds, mainly repre¬ 
sentatives of the family Tanagridse. The greater number of these 
have been recovered, and it now seems that the full loss resolves it¬ 
self to possibly not more than a half-dozen specimens. A change 
