iSxvi Trans. Acad. ScL of St. Louis. 



the minutes that "numerous mounted and preserved speci- 

 mens of mammals, birds, reptiles and fishes, collected on the 

 Upper Missouri river by the taxidermist sent by the Academy 

 to accompany Mr. Charles P. Chouteau on the annual trip of 

 the American Fur Co.'s boats, were received and deposited in 

 the Museum." Of the many and priceless gifts of Mr. Chou- 

 teau only a section of the Fort Pierre meteorite now remains. 

 Dr. Charles A. Pope, who donated many valuable speci- 

 mens representative of morphology and comparative anatomy ; 

 Dr. Theodore C. Hilgard, the donor of a beautiful series of 

 fish skeletons, a large collection of lichens mounted and of 

 many papier mache models of fungi, colored true to nature; 

 Dr. Chas. W. Stevens, from whom many fine mammal skele- 

 tons were received, especially a fine specimen of Bos cavi- 

 frons, which I am happy to say is still in our possession ; Dr. 

 Hiram A. Prout, for whom the gigantic Titanotlieriutn 

 Prouti of the Bad Lands of Nebraska will stand as a lasting 

 monument in the world of science; Dr. Adolphus Wislizenus, 

 whose work during his tour to Mexico was publicly acknowl- 

 edged by Humboldt as of value to him in his studies in that 

 region; Dr. Benjamin F. Shumard, Dr. George Engelmann, 

 Prof. George C. Swallow, Prof. G. C. Broadhead, Mr. Edwm 

 Harrison, and Mr. Nathaniel Holmes will ever be remembered 

 as the principal donors to the Museum and Library in the 

 early days of the Academy. 



After five years of prosperous existence came the gloomy 

 days of the War, disturbing the political, social and financial 

 conditions of the whole country. But even these days of 

 strife added to the Academy's museum. The Western San- 

 itary Commission deposited with the Academy what remained 

 of the Natural History Collection of McDowell College, 

 which had been turned into a war prison — Gratiot Street 

 Prison. 



At the close of the war the Academy regained some of its 

 accustomed activity and, in the fall of 1868, a committee was 

 appointed to secure rooms in the Polytechnic Building, as the 

 Museum and Library had far outgrown the quarters in the 

 College Building. While negotiations were still pending, fire 



