164 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE 



Thus, Mr. President and gentlemen, while we cannot but deeply mourn the vast loss 

 which this community and the whole country has sustained by this bereavement, we 

 rejoice in that friendly relationship which so long existed between us, and are thankful 

 that one of the last great public utterances of his life was given under the auspices of this 

 Society. 



And now that his life, so beneficently crowded with activity and usefulness, has closed 

 to us in this sphere of being, we are grateful that our mutual efforts established what will 

 not only be a perpetual bond of union between this Society and the institution of which he 

 was the honored head, but which, we trust, through successive years, may prove a source 

 of practical help and encouragement to numberless students, who, by their future efforts, 

 may extend the boundaries of knowledge, thus aiding in the work of human progress, 

 while they carry forward to yet further completion, those investigations and discoveries 

 which, in our own day, have given immortality to the names of Humboldt and of Agassiz. 



There was much feeling manifested at this time concerning the safety of the Museum 

 and collections, now of inestimable value. At a meeting of the Council, the Custodian 

 brought up the question of prohibiting the use of workrooms after dark. This led to the 

 appointment of a committee to take the whole subject of securing the building and con- 

 tents against fire. At a subsequent meeting, the President, in behalf of this committee 

 of which he was chairman, reported, recommending several changes in regard to unsafe 

 gas fixtures, and the erection of stand pipes for water. By vote, the committee was 

 authorized to do all they deemed wise and necessary in the matter. 



In January,* the President, Mr. Bouve, again brought before the Council the necessity 

 of continued action in order to place the collections of the Museum in proper sequence, 

 in accordance with the plan of arrangement which had been adopted. He thought that 

 extensive changes were desirable at once. These would involve the fitting up of two gal- 

 leries in the side rooms of the main hall for the reception of the Botanical collection, as 

 well as the fitting up of the north rooms on the first floor for the Mineralogical and Geo- 

 logical collections. To carry out these changes would require an expenditure of about 

 five thousand dollars. After discussion, a committee was appointed, consisting of Messrs. 

 Bouve", Hyatt, Brigham, Cummings and Scudder, to consider the matter and report at the 

 next meeting to be held a week later. When the Council again met, the President in 

 behalf of the committee, presented plans and estimates relative to the proposed alterations. 

 He stated, however, that the majority of the committee recommended that the Botanical 

 collections be placed in the gallery on the north side of the main hall, rather than on the 

 south side. To this, Mr. Brigham, in behalf of a minority of the committee, strongly 

 remonstrated. A prolonged discussion followed. The Council, after mature deliberation, 

 finally voted, with but one dissenting voice, to make the alterations as proposed by the 

 majority of the committee, and full authority was given the President, Custodian and 

 Treasurer to carry them out. The Council also voted that the southeast room in the base- 

 ment be fitted up as a work room under the direction of the same parties. 



As indicative of thought given by members of the Society to matters affecting the pub- 

 lic interest not pertaining especially to its work, it may be stated that in February of this 

 year, the Council passed a vote for presentation to the city authorities remonstrating 



