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zation of a state museum for the collection, exhibition and preservation of 

 our fauna and flora, our geological and archieological history, and our nat- 

 ural resources. Such a museum would become the center of the scientific 

 work of the state and the depository of the materials brought together by 

 the state surveys. I do not mean to advocate a museum in the old sense 

 of the word, to be a mere custodian of rare or curious .specimens and rec- 

 ords, but an organized department which shall exhibit our natural 

 resources and point out the possibilities of their development in the inter- 

 ests of the people. Such a museum woidd fill a large place in the educa- 

 tional .system of the state. 



The rise of the museum in the city, state, and nation is the latest 

 phase in. the educational evolution of our day. It is only necessary to 

 point to the work of such institutions as The National Museum at Wash- 

 ington, The New York State Mu.seum at Albany, The Museum of Natural 

 History at New York, The Carnegie Museum at Pittsburgh, and The Field 

 Museum at Chicago, to prove its value in modern life. Its method of 

 teaching is direct and impi-essive and it is the only method that is able to 

 reach many of the people of a community. "The truest measure of civili- 

 zation and of intelligence in the government of a state," I quote from an 

 address of Professor Henry Fairfield Osbom. "is the support of its insti- 

 tutions of .science, for the science of our time in its truest sense is not the 

 opini»»n or prejudices, the strength or weakness of its votaries; it is the 

 sum of our knowledge of nature with its infinite applications to state wel- 

 fare, to state progress, and to the distrilnition of human hai>piness." In 

 the development of this side of our educational system Indiana — we must 

 admit it with regret — is far l)ehind other and neighboring states. New 

 York State is the leader and has evolved an ideal organization. Beginning 

 in 1836 with the establishment of an official Natural History Survey, she 

 has made successive and progressive changes until in 18J»4 a consolidation 

 under the State Department of Education placed the museum at the head 

 of all the scientific interests of the state. It directs all surveys, archeo- 

 logical, botanical, entomolog^ical, geological, paleontological, topographical, 

 and zoological, and with the (•r)nsolidation has come a great gain. It has suc- 

 ceeded not only in building up a museum worthy of a great state, but it 

 has also taken a pla(,-(! in the educational work which no other organization 

 could fill eciually well. P»y means of instructive exhibits it has become a 

 great teaching force, and through its traveling collections and the furnish- 

 ing of materials and specimens to schools and societies it has widened its 



