16 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



the entire archives of his office, which have been examined and 

 from which have been extracted a great deal of valuable informa- 

 tion relating to deep wells in the state. 



Yours very truly, 



J. A. Udden, Chairman. 

 F. W. DeWolf, 

 U. S. Grant. 

 It was moved, seconded and unanimously carried, that the 

 report be accepted and the recommendation adopted. 



Mr. Frank C. Baker presented the following report, which was 

 accepted and the committee was continued for another year: 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE TO INFLUENCE LEGISLATION TO RESTRICT 



THE COLLECTION OF BIRDS AND EGGS SOLELY TO 



ACCREDITED INSTITUTIONS. 



Your committee has carefully gone into the subject of the 

 present law governing the collecting of birds and their eggs for 

 scientific purposes. A number of collectors, as well as profes- 

 sional naturalists connected with museums, have been seen or 

 corresponded with. The general consensus of opinion is to the 

 effect that it would not be wise, nor would it benefit science, to 

 restrict the collecting of birds and their eggs to accredited institu- 

 tions. Many valuable facts have been gathered by amateur 

 collectors, and it is quite probable that ornithological information 

 from many obscure parts of the state can only be obtained through 

 these enthusiastic collectors. 



Statistics concerning permits in Cook County show that up- 

 wards of twenty-one have been issued, divided as follows : 



4 Museum men. 



2 Egg collectors. 



6 Ornithologists. 



2 Taxidermists. 



1 Hunter. 



6 Unknown to the committee. 



21 Total. 



Some of these collectors should probably not receive permits 

 as their work is not in any way scientific. It is noteworthy that 

 but three persons of the twenty-one are members of the State 

 Academy. 



The law under which the collectors' permits are issued appears 

 to the committee to be faulty in that there is no centralized office 



