iv. Timehri. 
housed in the corridor near the Economic Section, but its furnishing 
is still in an embryo state. We take the opportunity to appeal to 
all members who. haye an interest in these industries and facilities 
for obtaining specimens, illustrative of them, to send them to the 
Curator. In this connection we have to lament the loss of Mr. F. A. 
Stockdale, whose valuable advice and assistance had been promised in the 
arrangement of the case, to whom, at the same time, we offer our very 
hearty congratulations on the recognition, which his promotion implies, 
of those qualifications which cause his removal to his new appointment, 
to leave a vacancy which it is hard to fill. Four new cases are under 
construction to replace the time-worn and never very suitable cases in 
which some of the furred and feathered species are now exhibited. 
Meantime a number of sub-committees are at work reporting on the 
condition of specimens in several orders. The information thus gathered 
is intended to guide the Directors in laying plans for a complete 
rearrangement, and, where desirable, renewal of specimens, many of 
which, even when originally well prepared, have lost their pristine 
freshness. 
Of course, this work will call for heavy expenditure, and it is sadly 
to be confessed that the resources of the Society are at present unequal 
to any added strain. Yet the Directors are getting ready for a day of 
better things, which, they are not without hopes, may be near at hand. 
They propose by the steps already and about to be taken that, so far as 
is possible with the means at their disposal, when that day comes it shall 
not find them unprepared. The spirit of undaunted optimism, for which 
the Society under the inspiration of its brilliant President, has come to 
stand, would be poorly illustrated if ‘* when it rains porridge ” the bowls 
were unready. We do not believe that the neglect of the Museum by 
private donors and the indifference to the vast importance from every 
economic standpoint of scientific inquiry, in which an adequate Museum 
holds an absolutely indispensable place, can long continue in face of the 
many influences at work in the direction of enlightenment. Should the 
Society again appeal to merchants, planters, and people interested, 
whether dwelling in or out of Guiana, we have a strong belief that a 
golden shower would till the calabash. The Government also, spite of 
many demands upon its resources, is unlikely to consider the claim of the 
Museum for greater support the least important or least pressing 
which offers itself for consideration. Lack of funds may compel the 
postponement of many things which would tend to well-being and 
progress, but the neglect of due payment to knowledge raises a 
cmulative debt of usury which even a wealthy state cannot afford to pay. 
THE Liprary. 
The additions to the Library during 1912 number about a thousand 
yolumes and include a collection of standard works in poetry and fiction. 
They are in many cases new, and in others replace damaged and worn 
sets. The Book Committee has tried to please the novel readers, 
