322 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1883. 



REPORT OF THE CURATORS. 



The Curators present the following statement of the Curator-in- 

 charge, Prof. Angelo Heilprin, as their report for the year ending 

 November 30 : — 



The condition of the Academy's collections, although it cannot 

 be stated to be absolutel}^ satisfactory^, is j^et fairly good when 

 compared to the condition of similar collections in this countr3-j 

 or even of those pertaining to foreign institutions. Much, how- 

 ever, remains to be done before either the interests of science or 

 of general education will have been thoroughl}^ satisfied, and until 

 more efficient aid is added to the working power of the Academ^^, 

 progress towards the obtaining of this satisfied condition must be 

 necessaril}' slow. The great obstacle in the way of the systematic 

 arrangement of the collections has thus far been, and still remains, 

 want of space, a weighty obstacle which must ever remain as such 

 until greater expansion will have been aflforded in the construction 

 of an extension to the present building. 



The removal, at a very moderate expense, of the large central 

 platform on the floor of the museum has permitted of a much 

 more satisfactory arrangement of the extensive series of geolog- 

 ical and palseontological specimens than has heretofore been pos- 

 sible, and has at the same time aflTorded room for the gathering 

 together and proper exhibition of a special collection — namely, a 

 collection illustrative of the natural products of Pennsylvania and 

 New Jerse3^ In this " local museum," as it may be termed, it is 

 intended to illustrate by actual specimens (as far as is practicable) 

 the entire domains of zoology, palaeontology, geology and min- 

 eralogy, in so far as these departments are directly connected with 

 the States above mentioned, and thereby very materially facilitate 

 the means for self-instruction in natural history, and for making 

 such immediate examinations and comparisons as ma}^ be variously 

 demanded. Work in the arrangement of this collection has been 

 progressing favorably, and it is hoped that the entire exhibition 

 will be satisfactorily displayed in the early part of the coming 

 year. 



The most important addition made during the past year to the 

 Academy's museum is the Vaux collection of minerals and archae- 

 ological implements, to which reference is made in the report of 



