7/ 



The Nautilus. 



Vol. IV. NOVEMBER, 1890. No. 7. 



A GLANCE AT THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF 

 PHILADELPHIA. 



BY JOHN FORD, PHILADELPHIA.^ 



The preseut building of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- 

 delphia fronting on Logan Square, is a very large one, but the new 

 structure, of which a perspective view is given on the opposite page, 

 will be quite double the size; the front of the latter on 19th St., 

 l)eing L55 feet ; and that on Cherry St. 130 feet, thus giving an addi- 

 tional surface area of 20,150 square feet. Four tiers of galleries 

 32 ft. wide will surround an open central hall, the whole illuminated 

 by an arched glass roof springing at a height of 80 ft. above the floor. 

 Added to these will be many rooms for Laboratory, Office and other 

 purposes. The society for whose accomodations this noble edifice is 

 being erected, is the oldest of the kind in America, it having been 

 founded in 1812 by a few earnest seekers after knowledge. Since 

 then many hundreds of names, among them a large number well 

 known to-day, have been added to its membership. It is not strange, 

 therefore, that for many years the society's decisions have had great 

 weight in the scientific world. 



In addition to its contributions to the progress of science through 

 the publication of discoveries and investigations, and courses of popu- 

 lar lectures, it has established a museum of natural objects equal in 

 many respects to the finest known. In this vast aggregation there 



1 Editor of Nautilus, Dkar Sir: Accompanying this communication 

 please find a picture of the building of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- 

 delphia, as i twill appear when the addition now under construction is finished. 



