284 PROCEEDINGS: BOSTON SOCIETY NATURAL HISTORY. 
available for study for two months past, and good progress has 
also been made in setting up the illustrations, the first plate being 
nearly completed. The thanks of the Society are due to Mrs. J. 
M. Arms Sheldon for this opportune and generous assistance, 
and, personally, the Curator desires to express his deepest obliga¬ 
tion for the saving of time, so precious to a man advanced in years, 
and for the equally important advantage that this donation has made 
it possible not only to have all the figures that are necessary but 
also to aim at the highest standard of excellence attainable by 
modern processes. 
All of the duplicate shells and all of those without locality labels 
were brought together and roughly sorted in the early part of the 
official year by Mrs. Flint. These were placed in Miss Martin’s 
room, who spent a large amount of time during the winter in com¬ 
paring them with the named species of our collections in order to 
pick out specimens that were to be retained. When this part of 
the work is finished, it is proposed to make up the whole mass into 
sets that can be disposed of or conveniently stored. Miss Martin 
has also been occupied an unusual amount of time this year in look- 
ing up series of specimens in this and other departments that had to 
be prepared for loaning to investigators. 
Crustacea. 
Considerable work upon this collection has been done by Miss 
Martin, and in this process, it was ascertained that it would be 
necessary to look over the entire alcoholic collections of the Museum 
in order to find and renew faded labels. This work is now under 
way. 
Birds and Mammals. 
The New England collection of birds has been rearranged by 
Miss Martin, and an effort has been made to place them so that they 
may be more readily seen. It is now proposed to replace the old 
shelving with an improved style of shelving, which will bring the 
specimens nearer to the glass, so that they may be more readily seen, 
and the details of the coloration, etc., studied by visitors. 
Mr. Batchelder has done considerable work throughout the year 
