OUTSTANDING COLLECTIONS
There are a number of very lovely private collections in the United States, some devoted wholly to marine species, others limited to land or fresh-water types. Many represent years of collecting, others an expenditure of many thousands of dollars. To mention a few would be to slight many another. The best private collections are in California, Florida, Connecticut, the New York area and Massachusetts. As time passes, private collections are either sold, lost or left to some public or university museum, so that today we find the largest collections housed by public or endowed institutions.
The United States National Museum, under the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., contains what is undoubtedly the largest mollusk collection in the world. Until Dr. Paul Bartsch, now retired, was curator, it was second in size to that of the British Museum in London. Today, this study collection contains over 9,000,000 specimens, 600,000 lots or suites and in the neighborhood of 36,000 species and subspecies. Its curator at present is Dr. Harald A. Rehder, and his associates are Dr. J. P. E. Morrison.
The Museum of Comparative Zoölogy at Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, has risen to second place in the United States within the last fifteen years. It is famous for its well-kept collection of about 7,000,000 specimens, 300,000 lots and approximately 28,000 species and subspecies. Its present curator is Dr. William J. Clench, noted for his development of students in mollusks. Dr. Ruth D. Turner is assistant curator.
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is third or fourth in size and contains an unusual amount of valuable material. Its present curator. Dr. Henry A. Pilsbry, has been with the institution for over sixty years, and he has contributed more to our science than any other worker. He was preceded by two equally famous curators, George W. Tryon and Thomas Say, America’s first malacologist. The author is the present incumbent of the Pilsbry Chair of Malacology.
In the Midwest, one of our largest fresh-water and land collections is located at the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dr. Henry van der Schalie, an expert on fresh-water clams, is the curator. The Chicago Museum of Natural History in Illinois contains a small but adequate collection and is under the care of Dr. Fritz Haas, a scientist well-versed in many phases of malacology.
There are no very large study collections in southeastern United States, although one of the finest exhibit collections is on display at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. It is well worth visiting, for the collection is beautifully lighted and arranged and is instructively labeled. Of equal brilliance, the Simon de Marco collection of rarities is housed in the commercial Florida Marine Museum near Fort Myers, Florida.
