elegant globes, mathematical and other instruments, and 

 many specimens of natural history, was almost totally de- 

 stroyed." 



The words which I have emphasized taken alone, might not 

 be entitled to much weight in this discussion, but in connec- 

 tion with the entries in the invaluable little memorandum 

 book, in which gifts to "The Museum" are given equal 

 prominence with books purchased for or given to the Li- 

 brary, fixes, beyond controversy, the fact that this begin- 

 ning of the Charleston Museum antedates the next c Idest 

 record by at least eight years. "The first public museum 

 was that founded in Philadelphia, in 1785, by Charles Willson 

 Peale, the bones of a mammoth and a stuffed paddlefish form- 

 ing its nucleus." (G. Brown Goode, Report U. S. Nat. 

 Museum, 1897, pt. 2, p. 403). 



Unfortunately, the minute book of the Library Society 

 prior to March 15, 1815, cannot be found, but the minutes of 

 its [Executive] Committee are extant, and as early as 

 * 'Wednesday, December 12, 1764, the Committee proceeded 

 to the room presented to the Society by Mr. Manigault, in 

 order to see in what forwardness the same was for the re- 

 ceipt of the books, &ca." Just what the "&ca" consisted 

 of the reader must determine for himself. When, however, 

 it is recalled that as early as January 17, 1778, the Library 

 owned "many specimens of natural history," it is reasonable 

 to conclude that the collection was the outcome of several 

 years' labor, especially as the public mind was fully occupied 

 with the strenuous work of the Revolution and the years im- 

 mediately preceding it. Scant time, indeed, must there have 

 been in this city or state for the indulgence of scientific ac- 

 tivity in the period between 1774 and 1777; it is, therefore, 

 by no means an unwarranted conclusion that, "the Commit- 

 tee" included in its ideas of "forwardness" necessary pro- 

 vision for the accomodation not only of the books but also of 



"The Museum." 



61 



