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Curators Reports '88-'89
Leonhard Stejneger, [[underlined]] Reptiles. [[/underlined]]

[[underlined]] Report [[/underlined]] on the Department of Reptiles in the U.S. National Museum, 1889.
By [[underlined]] Leonhard Stejneger, Acting Curator. [[/underlined]]

Up to the time when the present curator was appointed and assumed control of the department the work performed during the year consisted chiefly in the ordinary routine.  Upon assuming his new duties he found that before any other work could be properly undertaken a thorough overhauling of the entire collection would be necessary, in order to ascertain just what specimens the collection contains, and to arrange them - so far as the space allotted to the department would allow - in such a manner that it would be possible at any time to lay hand on any specimen desired.  A beginning was made with the reserve series of North American species, and their