REPORT OF THE CURATOR. 
Mr. President , Ladies and Gentlemen: 
In October, 1884, I had the honor of being elected your curator, 
in place of Dr. Mason, who then resigned that office ; and it now 
devolves on me, in accordance with Article VI of the Constitution 
under which the Society is incorporated, to 44 make a report at 
the annual meeting upon the state and character of the collections.” 
The instruction, the precise words of which I quote, will 
necessarily become more definitely applicable in the course of a 
few years, when the contemplated collections may have assumed 
distinct forms, but you will at once recognize the fact, that during 
the very early stages of a formative process, sufficient material 
cannot exist for classification and scientific grouping. The begin¬ 
nings of a general natural history collection may consequently be 
regarded as transitional in state, and shifting in character. For 
the present, therefore, we may accept this estimate as attaching 
to the many and interesting objects which kind donors have con¬ 
tributed during the last twelve months, as a nucleus for the 
museum spoken of in Section V of your By-laws. A list of the 
donations is appended to the present report; and the objects them¬ 
selves, it is satisfactory to state, have during the last few days 
been deposited in a room which, after careful consideration has 
been rented for one year by the Society, as a central depot, small 
in size but admirable for access by members and others who may 
be interested. This room is opposite the Redwood Library on 
Bellevue Avenue; and, while singularly modest in its dimensions, 
your council believe it may suffice for some time, for the pur¬ 
poses in view. These are, to preserve carefully the donations 
presented, to have a central point to which further contributions 
can be sent, and to serve, through the ntfme of the Society which 
is to be affixed outside, as a silent incentive to the steady accumu¬ 
lation of illustrative collections whose permanent home shall 
hereafter be in some more ambitious edifice. 
Referring once more to Section V of your By-laws, I beg re¬ 
spectfully to point out that you have there provided that only such 
