Botanical Museum Report Shows New Total of 88,000 Specimens of Fossils

Ten thousand fossil plant specimens acquired during the past year has increased the Botanical Museum collection to more than 88,000 specimens, the largest and most representative paleobotanical collection in the world outside of the British Musum of Natural History, the annual report of the Museum reveals.

The report which was submitted by Oakes Ames '98, director of the Museum, lists a large collection of fossil plants from Japan and Manchukuo as one of the major acquisitions of the year.

Varied Additions

The collection of economic plants and plants products was also increased by important additions, among 450 specimens of Chinese food, drug, fibre and timber plants; a number of Egyptian plants; a number of Mexican rosaries composed of ornamental seeds; a series of plant materials from Oklshoma associated with the peyote ceremony of the Kiowa Indians; specimens of resin-yielding plants and resinous products from the Federated Malay States; and specimens from Burma.

Unrivalled Equipment

The Botanical Museum's equipment for studies in economic botany and paleobotany is now "unrivalled elsewhere," Professor Ames reports, and attracts investigators from universities and botanical institutions throughout the world.

Cooperation With Others

The staff of the museum during the past year has cooperated in research for the Bishop Museum of Hawaii; the Bureau of Science, Manila; the Catholic University of America; Depauw University; Estacion Experimental Agronomic, Cuba; the Field Museum of Natural History. Judson College, Rangoon, Burma; the New York Botanical Garden; the Smithsonian Institution; the University of California; the University of Michigan; The Yale School of Forestry; the Geological Survey of Brazil; and the American Museum of Natural History.