c8 Boston Society of Natural History 



Shaw Townsend Washburn 



Shurtleff Treat Webster 



Sprague Tuckennan Weld 



Stearns Wadsworth Wigglesworth 



Storrow Walcott Wild 



Strong Walker Williams 



Thayer Ware Winslow 



Thomson Warren Wolcott 



The Hundredth Milestone 

 igjo 



WE wonder what Professor Wyman and our other illustrious 

 predecessors would say if they were on the scene to-day, of 

 the amazing growth in the study of Natural History and of the pres- 

 ent demands upon the capacity and resources of our Museum. It 

 is a far cry from the hall over the Savings Bank in Tremont Street, 

 one hundred years ago, to our present handsome building which we 

 must double in capacity if we arc not to fail in performing the func- 

 tions which our past achievements impose upon us and which the public 

 have a right to expect. Natural History has long since emerged from 

 the status of a hobby, or a Science for the few, to a vital factor in the 

 programme of any well-educated person. The easier access to Na- 

 ture won by increasing facilities of transportation, the greater lei- 

 sure which people of all stations in life now enjoy, and our growing 

 population throw an added, if pleasant, burden on our Society; for 

 every town-dweller can to-day be a student of Nature at first-hand. 

 The peep into the past which we have taken in this little book 

 reveals with a clearness which none may gainsay the nature of the 

 work and responsibilities which lie ahead. The aims of our Society 

 are founded in the vision and public spirit of its pioneers. As this 



