62 REPORT— 1897. 



Meport on the State of the Principal Museums in Canada and Neiv- 

 foundland. By Henry M. Ami, M.A., D.Sc,, F.G.S., of the 

 Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa. 



[Ordered by the General Committee to be printed in extenso.'] 



The following report on the state of the principal museums in Canada 

 and Newfoundland is based upon information contained in a correspond- 

 ence between the Director of the Geological Survey Department at 

 Ottawa (Dr. Dawson) and the curators or officers in charge of the several 

 museums, who very kindly supplied the information desired. 



The four following points in connection with museums received 

 particular attention : — 



1. The approximate number of specimens classified and displayed in 

 each museum. 



2. The relative importance of collections in geological, mineralogical, 

 botanical, zoological, ethnological, or other classes of material. 



3. Any special collections acquired from individuals included in the 

 museum. 



4. Types of species (if any) preserved in the museum, with the name 

 of the describers. 



The order in which the several museums are presented is r/eographi- 

 cal. Beginning with the most easterly one, the Museum of the Geo- 

 logical Survey of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland, and closing 

 with the Provincial Museum of British Columbia, Victoria, British 

 Columbia. 



The principal object in view in preparing this report was to gather 

 definite information regarding the amount of material at present housed 

 in the various museums of the country, and thus enable the Director of 

 the National Lluseum at Ottawa and others, to whom applications for 

 information are constantly coming in, to give satisfactory replies. 



The report consists of a consecutive list of museums in Canada and 

 Newfoundland, including only the principal ones known to the Depart- 

 ment, with brief descriptions or abstracts of the contents of the different 

 museums enumerated. 



Brief descriptions and notes on fifty-one private collections in Canada 

 are also added. 



This report does not profess to be complete in every respect. The in- 

 formation presented, however, has been obtained from the most reliable 

 sources available — from official letters sent by the curators or officers in 

 charge of the several museums addressed, or from published papers and 

 reports on the contents of museums in the different provinces. 



The thanks of the writer are due to Dr. G. M. Dawson, Director of the 

 Geological Survey Department at Ottawa, for many valuable suggestions 

 and kind ofiices in preparing this report. 



Geological Survey of Newfoiundland. — Contains about 3,000 specimens, 

 of which 2,000 at least are arranged and classified, to illustrate the 

 economic and natural resources of this colony. The mineralogical 

 cabinets comprise 600 specimens ; the palseontological and geological 



