THE MISIJM I.IHHAnV 



253 



int'oniiaiioii ; t'oi' xci'v lrc<nifiitly li.is ilic l)iisiii(>.ss iiuin, I lie i)r(>r('.s,si()ii;i,I 

 iiKiii. tlic iiKiii of Icisiiir, \\\v ;ii-tist, the iii(|uiriii^f voutli I'ouiid tlic keenest 

 eiijoynicnt and rchiAation \\\ uainini; ('\|)('rt knowledo-e on some snhject 

 in natnral history. And wlicic wdnid lie I'allirr lind a \\cll-c(|ni|)|)c(| library 

 in tliis domain than in a hum- pnMic mnsemn sni)i)lied holh with the 

 specimens and witli the Hteratni-e |>ei'taininu' to tliese specimens. 



In the MiiscMim's iihrafy of (10, 0(10 xohnnes ai'e some l.'),000 xohnnes 

 devoted to zo.iloiiy, eontainint; the works of Andnl)on, (lonhl and Chapman 

 in ornithology, an excellent collection ot" '.\')()() volumes relatitiii; to insects, 

 and a 2000 xolnme collection in concholouy emhracin^' the classics of 

 Kiister, Reeve and Himiey. There is also a well-selected library of 2r)()0 

 volumes in anthropology containing many of the rare and older works relat- 

 ing to the North American Indians; an excellent collection of i^OOO Nohmies 

 in geology, enriched by the library of the late Professor Marcou; a collec- 

 tion of 5000 \()hiin(>s in paheontology to a large extent composefl of the 

 Osborn Libraiy of Vertebrate Paheontology, and besides, an umisual 

 collection of more than 20,000 volumes of natural science periodicals. 



It is doubtful if the educational xalue of a free special library of this 

 kind can be overestimated. In few other fields is it possible to bring to- 

 gether the material subject and the literature as under the roof and adminis- 

 tration of a great natural history museum. 



nL-sc[iliin« ciitalpu flowers f\va.\ reproduction) in the Forestry Hall 



A natural history museum presents the combination of laboratories filled with material 

 for stiuly and a library covering the literature of this material 



