1881.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 479 



teaching untrained minds to think rightly and appreciate the 

 beauties of truth, everywhere manifest in the works of the Creator, 

 is likely to be as great, if not greater, and cei'tainly not less 

 salutary. 



A complete standard museum, free to the public, is surely 

 desirable in a locality which contains more than a million of 

 inhabitants within a radius of ten or fifteen miles from this centre. 

 The city contains man}' private special collections, and several 

 small, good museums connected with colleges and schools, which 

 are accessible to the few, but there is no great museum of natural 

 history absolutely free to all. Without lessening the importance 

 and value of private or collegiate collections, and without inter- 

 fering with students in their use of it, the museum of the Academy, 

 which has been formed at the cost of many 3'ears' labor and much 

 mone}', can be made in a short time complete and entirel}'^ free to 

 the public, provided that sufficient means for the purpose are 

 supplied. Herein lies the difficulty of the problem to be solved 

 .before starting the enterprise suggested. 



A newspaper has recently said that among our opulent citizens 

 are those who might, without inconvenience, give a million to 

 found a free public library. Assuming the conjecture to be true 

 in part, at least, it might not be entirely in vain perhaps, to invite 

 those ver}^ wealthy and intelligent persons to consider the claims 

 of the Academy on their bounty. 



The annual reports of the several sections or departments of the 

 Academy show that their condition is satisfactory. The}^ are: 



1. The Biological and Microscopical Section, founded in 1858 bj^ 

 the absorption or junction of the Biological Societj', then recently 

 organized, and by adding to it, in July, 1868, the then newly 

 formed Microscopical Societ3^ 



2. The Conchological Section, founded December 26, 1866. 



3. The Entomological Section, founded November 1875, chiefly 

 by annexation of the American Entomological Society. 



4. The Botanical Section, founded in June, 1876. 



5. The Mineralogical and Geological Section, founded April 24, 

 1877, under the title of Mineralogical Section. Its present title 

 was authorized November, 1879. 



The Biological and Microscopical Section reports that Professor 

 J. Gibbons Hunt delivered seven lectures on histological subjects 

 before the Section during the year, and that its annual exhibition 



32 



