118 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



diversity of external form and mode of life: resemblances and 

 differences between members of widely divergent types, and also 

 between closely related groups, as man and the apes; the exist- 

 ence of apparently useless or injurious organs, etc. There is 

 abundant material for the investigations of advanced students. 

 In the number of well preserved and instructively prepared 

 specimens of the brains of man and other animals, the museum 

 is believed to be unequaled in this country. 



The invertebrates include an excellent collection of corals and 

 a very large collection of shells, the Newcomb collection. The 

 museum also contains the complete series of glass models of in- 

 vertebrates made by Blaschka, the papier-mach^ models of 

 Auzoux, and a complete set of zoologic diagrams of Leuckart. 

 The laboratory is kept supplied with alcoholic specimens of the 

 typical marine forms studied by the students and supplied to 

 them at cost. 



Entomology. Many exotic insects and specimens of a large 

 proportion of the more common species of the United States, 

 which have been determined by specialists, and are accessible 

 for comparison; sets of specimens illustrative of the meta- 

 morphoses and habits of insects; duplicates in the laboratory 

 for the use of students; an equipment of microscopes and other 

 apparatus necessary for practical work in entomology; an exten- 

 sive and constantly increasing collection of histologic and 

 embryologic specimens; full sets of typical specimens for study 

 and comparison by the students. 



Botany. Collections are very extensive but are not exhibited 

 in the museum proper. The large greenhouses in connection with 

 Sage college adjoin the rooms of the department, and are filled 

 with many exotics representing the pteridophytes, gymnosperms 

 and angiosperms, and offer available material at all seasons for 

 studies in development, and histology, and furnish living plants 

 for illustrative material for many of the lectures. 



Space is provided for the study of plant growth, physiologic 

 experiments, and for the handling and treatment of greenhouse 

 plants, the latter being in charge of the head gardener of the de- 



