XXN'ii. '21] KNTOMMl.MCilCA!. NKAVS 315 



The point to he brought out is that the type material sin mid not lie 

 considered as personal property for. in reality, types are the property 

 of tht Science and not of the institution or individual in whose cus- 

 tody they may happen to he. Types are the evidence and basis of 

 all systematic work and should he made as readily accessible to all 

 responsible workers as is consistent with a safe policy for their 

 preservation. Type depositories should be limited to a few of the 

 larger institutions, and since the National Museum is the institution 

 of all the people, is broader in its scope than any othei institution 

 and is in a better position to aid far-away students by furnishing 

 comparisons made by specialists, it is the one institution which stands 

 out pre-eminent as a type depository. Furthermore, it is the institu- 

 tion which, with the co-operation of the Federal Bureau of 

 Entomology, renders most aid to State institutions and these, there- 

 fore, should be willing to assist by depositing their types with the 

 institution to which they frequently appeal for assistance. But that 

 this should not interfere with the deposition of types in other insti- 

 tutions is manifest; however, other type depositories should' be few in 

 number and should include only those institutions which are no\y 

 custodians of large numbers of types and those whose policy for type 

 preservation is permanent and not subject to the whim-, of a changing 

 administration. 



It has at no time been our intention to minimize the importance and 

 value of the various museums in our country. The committee was 

 appointed to assist the National Museum in every way because this 

 museum above all others has been of great practical value to entomol- 

 ogists throughout the whole United States, because service of ines- 

 timable intrinsic worth has been and is being rendered the great mass 

 of economic entomologists in America. Special stress has been given 

 the value of the Division of Insects of the U. S. National Museum 

 because it is a museum of all the people, it is broader in scope and is 

 richer in type material than any other American museum ; it is bound 

 to have a much larger staff of workers than will probably ever be 

 employed by any endowed institution, and it has agreed to assist in 

 building up the collections of any institution which makes the museum 

 its type depository. 



As the editorial in question brought out, it is "virtually impossible" 

 to get Congress to set aside a permanent appropriation for the Museum, 

 yet this does not remove the guarantee, for it certainly is ?. recognized 

 fact that no government department or independent establishment as 

 firmly developed as the National Museum will ever be completely 

 abolished or cut off. On the other hand, we have heard of endowed 

 institutions going under because of faulty investments, and of their 

 work being curtailed because the endowment, while sufficient at the 

 time established, was not elastic and did not provide for the increased 



