44 American Association of Museums 



Description of the Collections 

 origin and subsequent development 



The nucleus of the collections is the paleobotanical portion of the 

 general geological material gathered together by the late Dr. John 

 Strong Newberry, formerly professor of geology and paleontology 

 at Columbia University. It was separated from the general geolog- 

 ical collections of the University, after the death of Dr. Newberry, 

 and was deposited in the museum of the New York Botanical Garden, 

 under an agreement between the two institutions, dated May 3, 1901, 

 at which time I had the honor to be appointed to take charge of its 

 installation and future development. 



During the first six years in the museum of the Garden about one- 

 third of the specimens had to remain in storage by reason of lack of 

 cases; but in 1908 the case equipment was doubled and then, for the 

 first time, it became possible to make an approximate enumeration 

 of the specimens and to arrange all of the collections systematically. 



The number of specimens included in the original collections is 

 estimated at about 12,000, and the Garden has added, by purchase, 

 by field work, and through donations and exchanges, about 3000, 

 so that the number of specimens now in the museum may be conserva- 

 tively estimated at not less than 15,000. 



ARRANGEMENT AND LABELING 



The collections are installed in and occupy exclusively the two 

 wings of the main basement hall, the floor of which is at ground level 

 and laid directly on the ground surface. This is the logical location 

 for such collections in the museum, from the standpoint of both 

 systematic scientific sequence and practical museum economy. Fos- 

 sil plants represent the ancestral rootstock from which our living 

 vegetation has arisen and their proper systematic location is, there- 

 fore, in the basal portion of the building, with the collections repre- 

 senting our modern flora on the floors above; while the actual speci- 

 mens, by reason of their weight should, naturally, be located on a 

 floor laid upon the solid ground. 



A large framed placard, attached to the wall, indicates the charac- 

 ter of the collections as a whole, viz.: 



