54 Boston Society of Natural History 



Museum open to the public free of admission fee, and this policy 

 has since been maintained. Commenting on this departure, Dr. 

 Edward Wigglesworth, Chairman of the Executive Committee, in 

 his annual report for the year 1919 said: 



"A new arrangement has been instituted during the year. For 

 the first time the Museum has been open without charge every day 

 of the week. This makes the collections available to everybody at 

 anytime and therefore increases the usefulness of this Society, many 

 fold. This policy of being open free at all times is the one now 

 adopted by most Museums in the country. As a result and also in 

 part due to the improvements and excellent condition of the Mu- 

 seum, the attendance has greatly increased during the past few 

 months. On Sunday afternoons we now frequently have over one 

 thousand persons where formerly only four hundred to five hun- 

 dred came." 



The Last Thirty Years 



A FTER Professor Hyatt's death the Museum found itself at 

 XA. the turning of the ways. The old building was fearfully over- 

 crowded and for years stress had been laid upon supporting re- 

 search Avork, since the available funds would not allow both this 

 to be done and, at the same time, permit the exhibits to be decently 

 kept up. 



There was much to be said in defense of this policy. The pres- 

 tige of the Society abroad was well maintained and many important 

 papers were published but the Museum became literally a "chamber 

 of horrors." From this period dates the still prevalent idea that the 

 Museum consists of a lot of overcrowded, mouldy rooms rilled to 

 overflowing with natural objects, good, bad, and indifferent. The 

 shortage of storage space had, with the passing of many years, caused 



