1868-70.] EXTENSION OF THE MUSEUM. 173 



lars had been expended on the Agassiz Museum from 

 the time of its organization in 1859; certainly a large 

 sum, but not too large, if we consider the results arrived 

 at. As Agassiz justly says : " It is an astonishment 

 and a gratification to me to find that in ten years we 

 have attained a position which brings us into the most 

 intimate relations with the first museums of Europe ; 

 we have a system of exchanges with like establish- 

 ments over the whole world ; while the activity of 

 original researches in our institution, and its well-sus- 

 tained publications, the possibility of which we owe to 

 the liberality of the Legislature, make it one of the 

 acknowledged centres of the scientific progress. . . . 

 I claim that its results, as compared with those of 

 other institutions, are in more than due proportion to 

 the money expended. . . . The organization must, of 

 course, be the work of the director ; but for the ener- 

 getic and intelligent carrying out of the scheme, I 

 have to thank the gentlemen working with me either 

 as assistants upon very moderate salaries, or as friends 

 of the institution who give their work without any 

 remuneration whatever. 1 . . . From the earliest organ- 

 ization of the Museum, I have had three great objects 

 in view. First, to express in material forms the pres- 

 ent state of our knowledge of the animal kingdom ; 

 second, to make it a centre of original research, where 

 men who were engaged in studying the problems con- 

 nected with natural history should find all they needed 

 for comparative investigations; thirdly, --and this last 



1 "Report of the Director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology" for 

 the year 1869. 



