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^[[Geol]]

20

Museum aid Henry B. Roberts is indefatigable in his work in the collections and has done a great deal to organize them and make our specimens readily available. During this year Mr. Roberts either did himself or directed the reorganization of the biological collections of gastropods, monoplacophorans, scaphopods, and "pteropods." These were arranged alphabetically, standard trays were substituted for some of the odd-sized, space-wasting trays inherited from other years, shallower drawers were used where possible to conserve space, and the whole given a more homogeneous appearance.

The same treatment is now being applied to the ostracod collection. This is not a large collection as regards space occupied, but the specimens are so small that the collection is in reality as large or larger than the gastropod collection mentioned above. The specimens are being placed in uniform trays and the specimens arranged alphabetically. The ostracods, because of their small size and heterogeneous arrangement in slides, bottles, vials, boxes and trays, have always been one of the most difficult to use. In the future this will no longer be the case. 

Mr. Roberts has spent a great deal of time unpacking a collection of thousands of Tertiary mollusks from New Zealand, purchased during the year. The specimens are most small and numerous, thus requiring much care and time in their handling. Mr. Roberts, with the help of Museum aid Herman, also cleaned, sorted, arranged, and identified a collection of Miocene fossils made last fall. The specimens will be used mostly for exchanges.