I 68 Stone, Some Philadelphia Collections and Collectors. [ A ^,"!l 



still preserved in the library of the Historical Society of Pennsyl- 

 vania, contains an interesting account of the collection and as 

 many of us are concerned with beasts of the earth as well as birds 

 of the air I may be pardoned for quoting the paragraph on the 

 mammals as well as that relating to the birds : — 



"Among the most remarkable of the Quadrupeds are — The 

 Long-clawed Grisly Bear from the source of the Missouri. The 

 American Buff aloe or Bison, the Great Anteater (7 ft. 7 ins from 

 snout to tip of tail). The Ourang Outang or wild man of the 

 woods. The crested Porcupine, some of whose quills measure 

 18 ins, the American and New Holland ditto, Madagascar Bats 

 (measuring 4 ft. from tip to tip). The Hooded Bat etc etc. 

 The Lama or Camel of South America, the untameable Hyaena and 

 fierce Jackall. American Elks, the Picary remarkable for a sec- 

 retory organ on its back. The slow moving Bradypus or Sloth, 

 Antelopes from Africa, the Indian Musk of astonishing agility 

 and the Kangaroo or Opossum from Botany Bay, etc." 



" All the birds are in glass cases, the insides of which are 

 painted to represent appropriate scenery, Mountains, Plains, or 

 Waters, the birds being placed on branches or artificial rocks. 



" There are now in the collection (including many nondescripts) 

 perhaps all the birds belonging to the middle, many of which 

 likewise belong to the northern and southern States and a con- 

 siderable number from South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and 

 New Holland and the newly discovered islands in the south seas. 

 The number exceeds 760 without the admission of any duplicates, 

 contained in 140 cases." 



One of the most famous attractions of Peak's Museum was the 

 mounted skeleton of a mastodon, erected by one of Peale's sons, 

 who celebrated the completion of the work by given a dinner to 

 twelve of his friends, the table as well as a piano being placed on 

 a platform inside the body cavity and supported on the ribs. 



Like many similar undertakings, the Museum company by a 

 too lavish expenditure of money on their last building became 

 involved in debt and after a vain effort to make the museum self- 

 sustaining by adding musical and other attractions they were 

 finally compelled to close the doors in 1844. 



The decline of the museum and its passage through successive 



