aaa al 
2 SV ID Naps, 
) 
WONLOATIOS fy 
yy 2+ A 
ap, Pry apy £ i 
NEW YORK, FRIDAY, DEC. 10, 1915. 
Thye New York Times| 
A letter written in 
Conchology English not the less ex- 
at Least cellent because marked 
by some unfamiliar 
Is Peaceful. use of words and turns 
of expression, has asked and won our 
sympathetic attention for the Hirase 
Conchological Museum in Okasaki, Kyo- 
to, Japan. It is Y. Hrrase himself, the 
founder of this museum, who writes the 
letter, and in it he incloses what he calls 
“‘an album,’’ though it looks like a 
leaflet, in which he very quaintly and 
convincingly reveals the true man of 
science. 
He tells how he undertook, years ago, 
the large task of collecting, and making 
available for study, all the shells to be 
found on the coasts of Japan and neigh- 
boring islands. The performance of 
the task involved an enormous amount 
of hard work on the part of Mr. HiRAse 
and the few assistants whom he was 
able to train and pay, and it necessi- 
tated not inconsiderable sacrifices, some 
of which, as is usual, | fell on the pas- 
slonate collector’s family. His full am- 
bitions have not yet been achieved, but 
the museum now has a house of its own 
—a house that looks rather large and 
impressive as pictured on the ‘*‘ album mA 
—and therein are already gathered and 
classified 3,000 species of Japanese mol- 
lusks, a third of them, Mr. Hirase says, 
, his own discoveries. 
' Conchology is not the most exciting 
domain of science, or the most produc- 
tive, but it has its value, as many wise 
men have recognized, and many of them 
have been ardent explorers of this field. 
Mr. Hirask, as he frankly confesses, 
wrote to us from motives not entirely 
disinterested. Like many another votary 
of science, he finds his investigations 
and achievements uncomfortably re- 
stricted by lack of money, and he more 
than intimates, though delicately, that it | 
would be a pleasing manifestation of 
amity if Americans who are amateur or 
professional conchologists would con- 
tribute toward the maintenance and ex- 
'tension of his collection. 
| He does not ask for much. - For $2.50 
a year one may become a Supporting 
Member of his society, $5 gets the title 
of Special Member, and a Life Member 
pays anything he pleases above $30 at 
once. Mr, Hirase didn’t think to inclose 
‘any bank references, but he makes a 
noise that sounds like that of a man 
who is all right. 
aaa oe 
