and inanimate beings : of the minerals which form 

 the crust of the earth, and of the plants which cover 

 its surface ; of the organic fossils which enable the 

 geologist to trace the wonderful series of changes of 

 which the earth has been the seat ; of the existing 

 race of the animal creation, from the smallest zoo- 

 phytes to the ponderous mammals of tropical and 

 arctic regions ; while of man himself we have speci- 

 mens illustrative of every period of his history, and 

 every phase of his condition, from the most savage 

 to the most civilized, in implements, weapons, and 

 dresses ; inscriptions, coins, and medals ; models of 

 buildings, ships, and carriages ; together with the 

 objects of his worship in numerous idols, and his 

 relics in mummies and sepulchral urns. Let us then 

 endeavour to increase and improve our collection, 

 thankful to those enlightened men who, thirty years 

 ago, had zeal enough in the cause of science to 

 undertake its formation, leaving to us the compara- 

 tively easy task of preservation and addition : — 

 more especially let us constantly keep in view the 

 importance of providing for it, at the earliest 

 possible period, a more spacious and secure abode : 

 some of our most valuable specimens are very 

 imperfectly exhibited, and many cannot be exhi- 

 bited at all ; while as to occupancy we are mere 

 tenants at will, subject to all the contingencies in- 

 separable from such a tenure, and which nothing but 

 necessity should induce us to submit to : that such 



