DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 93 



by the opposition demonstrates either the falsity of the specimens 

 or fraud on the part of the academy. A careful examination of 

 the objects themselves by a disinterested and impartial commit- 

 tee has never been made. Until it has been, every expression of 

 opinion can only be personal. 



Up to the year 1883 there was no paid office in connection with 

 the academy. Early in 1883 the heavy labors devolving upon 

 the curator were emphasized, and the payment to him of a salary 

 was uged. Toward the end of that year the modest sum of five 

 hundred dollars was voted as salary, the incumbent being Prof. 

 W. H. Pratt, one of the original four of 1867. At about the same 

 time the financial condition of the academy made a vigorous efl^ort 

 on the part of its friends to relieve it from debt quite necessary. 

 There was a little balance of indebtedness upon the building and 

 other obligations had arisen. An appeal was made to the city, 

 and a citizens' meeting was held on April 24, 1883. At that 

 meeting twelve hundred and ninety dollars was subscribed, and, 

 by a short canvass among the citizens, that sum was raised to 

 twenty-nine hundred and sixty dollars, more than enough to pay 

 all debt. The surplus, amounting to nearly one thousand dollars. 



Fig. 10. Slate Tablet, Davenport. 



was set apart toward a permanent fund, the interest only on which 

 was to be available. 



Just at this time of favorable financial condition came the 

 attack upon the elephant pipes. Whether this was intended to 

 harm the academy or not, it had that result. The society was 

 already weakened by loss of active members. Death or removal 

 had taken from the academy Sheldon, Putnam, Parry, and Far- 



