438 HKroRT OF NATIONAL MUSKUM, VMY.]. 



institution roinpri.sini,^ :ili l)ian(lu\s of lettei'8 and science, while the 

 Chicag-o institute is an association that has for its object "'"to improve 

 and propatfate scientific knowled<^e b}'^ lectures and publication of 

 original essays, by a library and museum, as well as by such measures 

 as are adapted to awaken interest and promote scientitic research," In 

 this(|uotati()ii the words "scientific" and "science" mean almost exclu- 

 sively natural science. In former times Americans used high-.-sounding 

 titles eveiywhere, as in hundreds of lower-grade schools that called 

 themselves "universities," and the '"Academy of Science in Chicago" 

 thus bears an improper title that was accepted in 1H57. I think the 

 correct name would Ik> "Natural Histor}^ Society of Chicago," and 

 so it should be changed. The academy is divided in six divisions: 

 Astronomy and mathematics, photograph}, chemistry, g-eology, ento- 

 mology, and biology. The association has ordinary and extraordinaiy 

 mem])ers, who pay a fee of $5 a year (the ordinary also pay an entrance 

 fee of $10); life members, who pay a single fee of $500, and ])atrons, 

 who pay $2,500 at one time. It also has honorary and corresponding- 

 members. The board consists of a president, a vice-president, a sec- 

 retary, and a treasurer, with ten trustees, among them the president 

 of the Lincoln Park board. Only eight persons receive salaries — a 

 curator, the secretary, a preparator, a clerk, a supervisor, three jani- 

 tors, which, even for this small museum, is an unsatisfactory number 

 of officers. With the supervision of the building during the time 

 visitors aiv admitted, only two persons are charg"ed; the public, in 

 general, controls itself. The curator of the museum, a professional 

 man, is in all his plans dependent upon the decisions of the trus- 

 tees, who are nonprofessionals; a fact that is not very fayorabl(> to 

 the progress of the museum. This kind of obstacle does not exist to 

 such a degree in (Termany, unh'ss it l>e in certain "purchase commis- 

 sions." The impairing influences, however, are even here not want- 

 ing, but lie more in those who have to do with assigning the moneys, 

 and who ar(^ less appreciative of the educational value of the museum, 

 and thus, as is the case in America, they economize at the wrong- end. 



The annual revenues of the academy are $5,000 from the Lincoln 

 Park administration, spent for salai'ies, and the fees of the nuMubers, 

 amounting to $1,500, spent for administrative expenses. The park 

 boai-d also pays for heating, illumination, cleaning, and repairs of the 

 building, and pays the three janitors. If more mone}" is needed for 

 administi'ative or for purchasing purposes, or for expeditions, etc., 

 appeal is made to the liberality of the members or the public, and 

 always successfully, though until now in very modest limits compared 

 with other similar institutions in Ani(>rica. In VMH). $S.(»(>0 was 

 expended. 



A special division with its own |)ublications, the Natural History 

 Sur\ev of CM)icago and environs or \icinit\', was established in 1892. 



