4 THE CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



Gulf Stream by Mr. M. Pourtales, loaned for description. In ad- 

 dition, the library, the manuscripts of Dr. Stimpson and almost 

 the entire edition of the early transactions were destroyed. 



The indomitable will which enabled the citizens of Chicago to 

 rebuild the city almost before the embers were cool also con- 

 trolled the members of the Academy, and a new set of buildings 

 was erected on the burned site, and the lenders of the funds were 

 secured by a mortgage on the property. The financial depression 

 which followed the year 1873 reduced the income of the Academy 

 to such an extent that it was not able to meet its obligations and, 

 in 1886, by due process of law, the property was transferred to the 

 holder of the mortgage. 



The Academy then arranged with the Interstate Exposition, 

 which was located on the ground now occupied by the Art Insti- 

 tute, to provide exhibition and storage rooms for its collections, 

 where they remained until 1892 when the exposition building was 

 taken down and the collections were placed in storage. 



At this time a generous Chicago citizen, Mr. Matthew Laflin, 

 offered to give $75,000 toward the erection of a building, and the 

 Commissioners of Lincoln Park offered to provide the ground, as 

 well as to add $25,000 to complete the fund for the building, and 

 also to pay $5,000 per year towards the maintenance .of the Acad- 

 emy. These offers were accepted and on October 31, 1894, the 

 present building was opened to the public. 



The museum building was designed by Ration and Fisher, archi- 

 tects, and is 132 feet long and 61 feet wide. It consists of a 

 basement for work rooms and heating plant, a first floor for offices 

 and library, a second floor for the museum, with a gallery constitut- 

 ing the third floor, and a large attic for storage purposes. The 

 building is essentially fireproof, the only woodwork used in its con- 

 struction being the floors, window frames and doors. The archi- 

 tecture is Italian renaissance and the material used is Bedford lime- 

 stone. 



In a survey of the history of the Academy three names stand 

 out prominently: Mr. Robert Kennicott, its founder and first di- 

 rector; Dr. William Stimpson, the eminent zoologist and its sec- 

 ond director, and Dr. J. W. Velie, for many years its curator. 



SUMMARY OF COLLECTIONS. 



The collections of the Academy are somewhat unevenly divided 

 among the different subjects. The Mollusca is the most complete 

 and contains about 8,000 species, including many types, cotypes 



