That such a Museum of great value and extent could soon be collected— and 

 would not only highly subserve the promotion of knowledge and general 

 spread of natural science in the South, but would be an honor to our City. 

 The subject was brought before the Board of Trustees of the College of 

 Charleston. They referred it to their Standing Committee, and the com- 

 mittee authorized their Chairman to communicate with some of the Scien- 

 tific gentlemen among us, best able to advise on the subject, and to re- 

 port the result. In pursuance of this authorization the Chairman re- 

 spectfully reports: 



"That he embraced the opportunity afforded by the recent visit to the 

 South of Prof. Agassiz, to consult him specially on this subject. The 

 professor had the goodness to make a written communication on it, 

 which presents such interesting views of it, that justice could scarcely be 

 so well done to them in any other way, as by submitting them in his own 

 words to the Committee. After expressing his great gratification at the 

 idea of the establishment of a Museum of Natural History in Charleston, 

 the Professor observes: 



' ' 'I am so deeply interested in every movement likely to contribute to 

 the promotion of physical science that I beg to be allowed to present 

 some remarks to you, which may satisfy you that such an establishment 

 would be both useful to science and honorable to your Community, and I 

 may say, also, easily increased without considerable expense. The only 

 thing of first importance is a good room or set of rooms, with a perma- 

 nent curator. Specimens of Natural History require constant attention, 

 otherwise they decay, or are destroyed by insects. An intelligent keeper 

 of the Museum, himself deeply interested in it's increase, is therefore, the 

 soul of such an institution. Young physicians, feeling an interest in the 

 growth of the collection, should also be patronized, so far as to allow 

 them a convenient place where they could work for the museum while 

 they were waiting for patients. With such a combination the museum 

 could advance simultaneously in all departments. The whole expenses of 

 the museum might therefore be reduced to the rent of rooms and the sal- 

 ary of the curator, with a moderate appropriation for freight to pay the 

 expense of exchanges and the collection of specimens for exchanges. For 

 it's increase a museum, which is not richly endowed must chiefly depend 

 upon the activity of it's curator in procuring new specimens by way of 

 exchanges. Now, I venture to say, that few places in the world, if any, 

 are more favorably situated than Charleston, to offer valuable exchanges, 

 owing to several circumstances which must be familiar to you. It was 

 in Charleston the first specimens of Natural History were collected which 

 have been scientifically described. Dr. Garden who was a regular cor- 

 respondent of Linnaeus, provided him with many specimens, which have 



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