the museum naturally wishes to know the relative attractive 

 value of various kinds of exhibits. For this purpose regis- 

 tering turnstiles are used to record the number of visitors. 



A brief account of the College of Charleston Museum 

 may be appropriately given here for the purpose of showing 

 the work which it is fitted to do and the difficulties w^hich 

 confront it. Such an account vv^ill complete the general dis- 

 cussion of our subject by disclosing the vicissitudes of many 

 of the natural history museums of this country. The Muse- 

 um was organized in 1850 as a result of the interest in natu- 

 ral history aroused by Louis Agassiz and that famous coterie 

 of scientific men who lent luster to the culture of Charleston 

 in the first half of the nineteenth century. The Museum re- 

 ceived the older private collections of Elliot, Holbrook, Aud- 

 ubon, Tuomey, and Holmes. At about this time museums of 

 natural history were established in a great many other col- 

 leges in this country. The animus of them all was the old 

 systematic natural history and they had no sooner gotten 

 fairly started than the interest in that form of science began 

 to wane under pressure of the new Darwinian biology. Most 

 of these museums were unable to adapt themselves to the new 

 conditions and so have gradually drifted into neglect and de- 

 cay. This Museum was fortunately preserved from the com- 

 mon fate by the devotion of its curators, Professor Holmes 

 and Dr. Manigault, under v/hose care the collections have 

 greatly increased and come down to us fairly v/ell preserved, 

 in spite of war, fire, and earthquake. To-day this is considered 

 the largest museum in the South. The study collection in- 

 cludes the Stephen Elliott herbarium, rich in types and fre- 

 quently consulted by botanists from all parts of the country. 

 This herbarium is now being renovated and a printed report 

 on its present condition will soon be published. A suitable 

 safe is needed to protect this herbarium from the ravages of 

 insects and danger of fire. The exhibition specimens are 

 nearly all of very good quality and this is especially true of 

 the mammals. To the work of Professor Ashley, recently 



