MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 151 



PRESENT CONDITION OF THE STATE MUSEUM OF 

 NATURAL HISTORY. 



By a. R. Crook. 

 Illinois State Museum of Natural History. 



In view of the interest which the Academy has taken in the 

 State Museum, it may be well at this time to call attention to 

 progress recently made at the museum — progress which, though 

 slight is nevertheless gratifying. 



One of the most important pieces of work accomplished has 

 been that in connection with the arrangement of the library. 

 More than 1,500 books have been bound, sets have been com- 

 pleted, several hundred books have been added, all have been 

 arranged on accessible shelves, and about 12,000 cards have been 

 written for card catalogue. 



A card catalogue of the specimens on exhibition in the museum 

 is being rapidly brought to completion. During the past six 

 months more than -4,000 cards have been written. 



The space at the disposal of the museum has been more than 

 doubled, permitting a slight expansion and some addition to 

 the exhibits. But the floor space for exhibition and for work 

 should be at least four times what it now is, in order to ade- 

 quately represent the things which as soon as possible should be 

 collected for the sake of preservation, study and exhibition. 



There are at this time special reasons for hoping that in- 

 creased space will soon be obtained. It is becoming widely real- 

 ized that at least $100,000 worth of material is now inadequately 

 cared for in the museum. Among this material are about TOO 

 type specimens. The present quarters are unsightly. The loca- 

 tion, directly at the intersection of two busy streets, renders the 

 dust nuisance almost unbearable. The danger of fire is great 

 because of inflammable m.aterials of which the building is con- 

 structed and because of storage of such materials therein. The 

 loss which a fire would cause would be irreparable. If new quar- 

 ters can be provided as is the earnest wish of practically all con- 

 versant with the situation, the present material can be safely 

 housed and properly used; and the value of the collections can 

 in a short time be doubled. More than $25,000 worth of speci- 

 mens have already been offered the museum on the condition that 

 a new building be secured, and it will be easy to increase these 

 gifts. 



