1892.J l^J [Ruschenbei^er. 



To rationally dispose of leisure mouieuts ; to foster peaceful study of 

 natural things, as a wholesome diversion of the mind from the mental 

 weariness and waste incident to idlers, quite as harmless, and more useful 

 than contending at a game of chess ; and to communicate freely to each 

 other, as well as to the world, the results of their studies and si^ontaneous 

 investigations were the chief motives which led its members to institute 

 the Society and promote its progress. 



Many books of reference, to tell students what had been already ascer- 

 tained, and collections of numerous natural objects, to compare with those 

 supposed to be new, are indispensable implements of a naturalist, but no 

 individual was able to obtain them. Immediately after founding the 

 Society the members saw this urgent need, and together began to form a 

 library and a museum for their common use. 



Looking forward to a time when the members of the Society would be 

 numerous, and possibly might include zealous supporters of difierent relig- 

 ious creeds and rival political parties, the founders were somewhat appre- 

 hensive that a source of discord might arise in meetings of men holding 

 conflicting opinions on these subjects, and for such reason agreed from the 

 outset that, on entering the premises of the Society, every member should 

 leave his religion and politics behind him at the door, and that debate of 

 religious or political questions should be always out of order. This un- 

 written By-Law, solely designed to preserve harmony, though well under- 

 stood by the members, was misconstrued outside of the Society. 



Educated people, generally, then regarded the study of natural history 

 to be in some vague way antagonistic to religion, and erroneously sup- 

 posed that its votaries must be atheists or at best deists, and, therefore, 

 to be avoided. The above unwritten By-Law, which, according to vulgar 

 rumor, required members on joining the Society to give up religion, 

 sustained the popular error. 



During the first quarter of a century of the Academy's existence, 

 natural history was not a part of the curriculum in any school or college 

 in our country, because its economic value was not generally understood. 

 Most of the Society's members were self-taught. They met in the evening 

 once a week and before the meeting was called to order, passed some time 

 harmoniously conversing about their studies. Their aim was to encourage 

 spontaneous investigations and to make the Academy a practical school of 

 natural history. No one then imagined that knowledge of it would ever 

 become, as it is now, marketable knowledge, a part of the stock in trade 

 of the teacher's beneficent vocation. At that time the chief incentive to 

 the study was pure love of it, without hope of renown or emolument. 



When Dr. Leidy joined the Society its library contained about 12,000 

 volumes, and its museum representative collections of thousands of speci- 

 mens in all departments of natural history, besides chemical and other 

 apparatus. He had at once use of all these resources, and the encourage- 

 ment which flows from the fellow-feeling of many comrades working on 

 the same line. He often said in after years that, without the facilities 



