^'t,^^;"- NEWS OF UNIVERSITIES, ETC. 73 



and is desirous of effecting a change that shall be beneficial both to the course of 

 University teaching and to the progress of Natural Science : 



" We are unfortunately compelled for want of funds gradually to restrict the 

 " work of the assistants of the Museum to the mere care and maintenance of the 

 ■" collections, and to limit their use by specialists. Our inability to engage a 

 " sufficient number of assistants compels us to refuse many of the constant demands 

 " made upon the administration of the Museum for an opportunity of working up or 

 *' of examining parts of our collections, the value of which to science is thus greatly 

 " diminished. It is true we have a number of volunteer assistants, but we cannot 

 " expect these gentlemen, who have kindly undertaken the general, supervision of 

 " special departments, to spend their time in the drudgery necessary to meet the 

 " legitimate demands which every fairly organised Museum ought to be able to 

 " meet, and which are naturally made upon our collections and assistants. With 

 " the exception of Dr. Hagen and Mr. Garman, there is no assistant upon whom I 

 " feel at liberty to call for work of that kind. The annual expenditure of a com- 

 " paratively moderate sum would go far to remedy the unfortunate attitude we are 

 " compelled to assume towards specialists. But I need not dwell upon the unsatis- 

 " factory condition of the Museum finances. As I have stated in former Reports, it 

 " is no longer practical for me, in connection with other plans I have in view, to 

 " continue to give to the Museum the support, or devote to its interests the time it 

 " has hitherto received from me. It is becoming self-evident that an attempt to 

 " establish at Cambridge a Museum devoted to original investigation, in addition to 

 " its other functions of providing a University Museum and Laboratories, is not 

 " destined to be carried out. We cannot compete with the general government or 

 " municipal institutions without an endowment or resources far greater than any 

 ■" University can hope to obtain, and the sooner the future plans of the Museum are 

 " modified to meet the existing state of things, the less will be the waste, and the 

 " sooner shall we adapt our organisation to the comparatively limited field of a 

 " University estabhshment." 



Notwithstanding all difficulties, the Cambridge Museum Bulletin still continues 

 to hold its important position among American scientific journals; and the exhibition 

 rooms are being enriched with many valuable additions. A magnificent series of 

 skeletons of Edentata from the South American Pampas, collected and mounted by 

 Professor H. A. Ward, was added last year. 



It is satisfactory to learn that negotiations are in progress for the acquirement 

 of the Bristol Museum by the city. Subscriptions to the Museum and Library have 

 of recent years decreased so much as to prevent the committee from making 

 adequate provision for the custody of the Natural History Collection. Some depart- 

 ments of the Museum — notably those of Geology and Palseontology^are so rich in 

 unique specimens that all interested in scientific work will unite in good wishes for 

 the success of the new scheme. That the efforts of the Curator, Mr. Edward 

 Wilson, are appreciated by ordinary visitors, is indicated by the fact that no less 

 than 3,000 copies of his " Guide to the Bristol Museum," issued in September, i8go, 

 were sold within fourteen months. A second edition of this admirable little 

 handbook has just reached us. 



We are glad to state that during the political strife of the past year in Chili, 

 the French residents in that country have succeeded in founding a Scientific 

 Society which promises to contribute largely to our knowledge of the Natural 

 History of South America. The new organisation is entitled the Societc Scientifique du 

 Chili, and its General Secretary is Professor Fernand Lataste, the well-known French 

 zoologist, who has resided in Chili for the last three years. The membership of the 

 Society is composed of persons of every nationality residing in the Republic, and the 

 contributions are presented either in French or Spanish, at the discretion of the 

 respective authors. The Society will shortly issue the first part of its Actes, with 

 an appeal for support to the principal Scientific Societies of Europe and North 

 America. We have been favoured with an advance copy of the Proces-Verbaux 

 of November i6th, 1891, in which M. Lataste refers to his work on the dentition 

 of the Mammalia, and to a novel method of capturing Petrels. M. P. Germain 

 communicated to the same meeting some observations on the habits of monkeys, and 

 the President, M. A. Obrecht, referred to the lunar eclipse of November 15, as also 



