9 6 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Pilsbry, not to mention many other local collectors. Here are 

 Captain Hall's collections from Arkansas, and the tablets, pipes, 

 copper axes, and other notable specimens from the local mounds. 



In the gallery are collections of 

 minerals and an extensive series 

 of stone-age tools and weapons. 

 In front of this gallery and over 

 the hallway and two front rooms 

 of the lower story is the library, 

 which can be used as a hall for 

 a reasonably large audience. 

 The library is one of the best 

 devoted to science in the West, 

 and has been chiefly secured in 

 exchange for the Proceedings. 

 Nominally it contains more than 

 forty thousand volumes ; but 

 this number must be considera- 

 bly reduced, as latterly single 

 issues of periodicals have been 

 catalogued under distinct num- 

 bers. With all reductions made, 

 however, the library is impor- 

 tant. Publications in twenty- 

 two different tongues are on its exchange list. 



Among the most recent subjects in which the academy has 

 interested itself is an archaeological study of the State of Iowa, 

 planned by the writer. The plan involves several distinct pieces 

 of work : 



1. The preparation of a bibliography of Iowa antiquities. 



2. The publication of a summary of Iowa archaeology. 



3. Organization of field work throughout the State. 



4. Publication of a final report and an archaeological map. 



5. Preparation of a series of diagrams and casts of an edu- 

 cational character for distribution to the higher institutions of 

 learning in the State. 



The first two parts of the plan have been accomplished, and 

 the academy is now endeavoring to carry out the third. While 

 the academy has given and is giving considerable attention to 

 archaeology, it is not neglecting other lines of science, and papers 

 of importance in geology, botany, and entomology are in its hands 

 for publication in the near future. 



Thirty years is not a long time, even in America. In Decem- 

 ber, 1897, the academy will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary by 

 a special meeting. It may then look back with pride over its rec- 

 ord. From a membership of four meeting in an office, it has grown 



FIG. 13. W. H. PRAIT. 



