10 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The growth of the Museum and the related departments of the 

 Institute has been so rapid, and the usefulness and popularity of the 

 entire undertaking has been so great, that the founder has found him- 

 self constrained to again provide for further enlargement, and in the 

 fall of the year 1899 and the spring of 1900 preliminary plans for 

 extension were prepared, which subsequently were approved by Mr. 

 Carnegie. These plans contemplate the ultimate expenditure of 

 $3,600,000, in new construction, greatly enlarging and perfecting the 

 facilities of the Museum, the Library and the Art Gallery. When 

 these plans are executed the city of Pittsburgh will have an institution 

 second in its importance to no other of like character in the New World, 

 and surpassing many of the famous institutions of Europe in the pro- 

 vision made within its walls for promoting a knowledge of literature, 

 science and art. 



Inasmuch as Pittsburgh is located in the very heart of the Appa- 

 lachian region, it was in the beginning determined among other things 

 to make the collections acquired by the institution as thoroughly 

 illustrative of this region as possible. Accordingly much effort has 

 been expended in endeavoring to obtain specimens illustrating the 

 geology, the mineral resources, and the flora and fauna of the region 

 of which Pittsburgh may be said to be the metropolis. By the gift 

 of the large herbarium of the Western Pennsylvania Botanical So- 

 ciety, to which extensive additions have been made, the flora of the 

 region is already well represented. The fauna. is also represented by 

 collections which are extensive and rapidly growing. Almost all the 

 mammals and birds known to exist in Western Pennsylvania are con- 

 tained in the collection, and through the diligence of those in charge 

 of the department of ornithology several species not heretofore known 

 to occur within the limits of Pennsylvania have been added to the 

 faunal list. The collections representing the insect life of the region 

 are great. Extensive research is going on in every direction, and it 

 is hoped ultimately to amass and bring together representatives of 

 every form of life, whether animal or vegetable, known to occur in the 

 upper valley of the Ohio. Collectors have been sent out who have 

 extended their labors over the whole western half of the State, from 

 Erie to the southern boundary, and westward into eastern Ohio, and 

 southward into West Virginia. It no doubt will require many years 

 finally to complete the biological survey of this extensive region, but 

 a very satisfactory beginning has already been made. Side by side 

 with the work done in the department of biology much work has 

 been done in gathering together ethnological and historical material, 

 the former throwing light upon the aboriginal inhabitants of the ter- 

 ritory, the latter serving to illustrate its development since occupied 

 by civilized man. The industries of the region likewise have claimed 



