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Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. These two in- 

 stitutions were originally independent, affiliated with Har- 

 vard College but not controlled by it, having their own 

 boards of trustees, and hence autonomous. Later they con- 

 veyed their possessions to the College, each forever to 

 have a self-perpetuating governing board, confirmed by 

 the governing boards of Harvard College, and each having 

 the rights and prerogatives of a faculty in the University. 

 These two museums are governed in this way to this day. 

 Years passed and other buildings to house Botanical, Min- 

 eralogical, and Geological Museums were constructed, and 

 finally the whole formed one continuous structure. 



The three museums last mentioned are not governed by 

 a faculty. The general control of the building, the dis- 

 tribution of space therein, and matters affecting more than 

 one section, such as repairs, hours of opening and closing, 

 etc., etc., make it desirable to have one official responsible 

 for such matters, so that while each Museum has its indi- 

 vidual director, I have the title of Director of the Uni- 

 versity Museum as well as of the Museum of Compara- 

 tive Zoology. This situation might conceivably lead to 

 friction. As a matter of fact, it leads to nothing but the 

 pleasantest and most friendly associations. The Museum 

 of Comparative Zoology is widely and very happily known 

 as the Agassiz Museum; the others have no occasion to use 

 other than their own official styles. As with so many of the 

 institutions connected with Harvard University, which, 

 like Topsy, just growed, the complicated setup, which 

 might be expected to be cumbrous and unhandy, works 

 extremely well. 



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