]r>(\ Tin: AMElilCAS MISFJM .lOI ' l{.\ A L 



historic South I*liili;iiicc. with it> iiiciiidid Mcinoria! IIm!! con^t itiil iiij,' 

 a inoiiiimcnt to the a(hiiiiiistratioii of President .lesiij). l)iiriiij; the entire 

 summer season these two entranc-es, the Southern attraetinj; t)y its slnuh-d 

 approach, will lie most aeeessil.'Ie; while for piirp()S(> of attendance at pnlihe 

 lectures and for iarfje classes from puhlic schools, the contemplated W estern 

 Kntrance will pro\-e the most j)ractica! and readil\' accessible to the arteries 

 of transportation of the city of the futui'c. 



Since assnnn'ng ofHce in HIOS the Presidents interest has largely centered 

 in a series of stt:dies ff)r tlie future development of the interior of the Mu- 

 «(um' to pi'o\ ide at once for expansion and to look toward an ideal future 

 iti an arrangement made hf)th from the standpoint of a natural se(iuence 

 and of an artistic impression upon the minds of \isitors. A great natural 

 history museum should impi'ess the \ isitoi- with the gi'andeui- and lieauly, 

 and witii the orderliness and system of the i)r()cesses of nature. Ivspecially 

 is natural seciuence important, not only se(|uenee of the exhihitions in each 

 hall hut also of the successive halls tliemsel\fs. This is an educational 

 principle of the utmost value. It is as important in natural history as it 

 is in art. \"isitors to the Berlin Must tim will recall the simplicity an<i (Mrect 

 educational value of the arrangement of tlie ])icture galleries according to 

 the setjuence of Schools of Art in various countries. K.xactly tiie same idea 

 applies to a museum of natm-al history, yet with the exception of the 

 Museum of ( 'omparati\e Zotilogy of ('aml)ridge, arranged 1)\ the late 

 Alexander Agassiz, no large .scientific musemn. to oiu" knowledge, has yet 

 emhodied the idea of the natural relations of subjects or of the consecjuent 

 natm'al groupings. 



In a geograi)hic sequence for instance, the visitor would i)ass from 

 country to country, as in course of tra\el. In studying the ])rehistoric 

 life of North .\merica, he woulil naturally ])ass from east to west; he would 

 study the former iniiabitants of Manhattan Island jmd the neighboring 

 tribes along the eastern coast; then ])ass to the Central West, to the region 

 of the (Jreat Plains, to the Indians of the Southwest, and hnally, to the 

 past and present history of Mexico and Central America. Such geographic 

 arrangement can be made to prevail naturally to a large extent on the west- 

 ern or anthroi)((logical side of the Museum and also in certain hal!> on the 



» There are now in preparation two pul)lications in which the propo.sed interior arranpe- 

 ment of the Museum will be set forth. The first of the.se is the second or Curators' edition 

 of the work entitled " History. Plan and Scope of the American Museum of Xatural History. " 

 the Trustees' edition of which was puVMished in 1910. The second publication is an illu.s- 

 trated folder showing the jsradual steps which have been made in the development of the 

 I uikiings of the Museum. tjeKinnin? with the completion of the orijjinal .South Transept in 

 1<S77 and ending with the presentation of the proposed future arrangement of the halls in 

 th3 completed c "ntral portion and .southern half of thr Museum, the plans for which are now 

 in the hands of the architects. The northern half of the Museum is left rntirel>- for future 

 consideration. 



