40 Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences 



The museum and the Association in general are indebted to the boys 

 for manj' gratuitous services, such as running the lantern for our lectures, 

 printing labels and notices, acting as ushers at meetings, etc., and I have 

 no hesitation in saying that the returns have been ample for the privileges 

 granted by the Board in permitting them the use of the Annex for head- 

 quarters. Further than this, I have been assured that we need not hesitate 

 to call upon them to render other services as occasion may arise. 



Publicity 



The policy of the Board of Trustees in granting to certain outside organi- 

 zations the use of the museum assembly and committee rooms has, appar- 

 ently, been of benefit to all concerned, and has served to demonstrate that 

 the Association is always ready to assist or cooperate in any way for the 

 general civic welfare or betterment. Among the organizations that have 

 availed themselves of this privilege may be mentioned the legislative com- 

 mittee of the Staten Island Civic League; committee on the Shakespeare 

 celebration; executive board of the Consumer's League; New York City 

 visiting committee, Richmond Branch of the State Charities Aid Asso- 

 ciation, etc. 



The activities of the museum, and of the Association in general, have 

 also been constantly called to the attention of the public through press 

 notices, sent each week to the Richmond County Advance and. the Staten 

 Island World, and from time to time to the Staten Islander. 



Accessions 



The accessions to the museum totaled 132, of which 116 were donations 

 and the remainder were obtained by purchase and exchange or through 

 collections made by members of the museum staff. The number of mu- 

 seum specimens included in the above accessions is 2,309, and of books 489. 

 In addition to the above there were received, in exchange for our Pro- 

 ceedings, 427 books and pamphlets, making the total of accessions to the 

 library 916. 



Most of the accessions have been exhibited and commented upon at the 

 meetings of the Association, and a full list is appended of all the donors, 

 so that further mention does not seem to be necessary. The most exten- 

 sive accession was that of Mr. Morton W. Smith, consisting of 407 

 zoological botanical, geological, archeological, historical, and miscellaneous 

 specimens, collected by his son, the late Richard Penn Smith. 



One of the most encouraging indications of the interest taken by the 

 public in the museum is the large number of single objects brought in for 

 identification or as gifts. Many of these are, of course, of no value; but 

 the fact that school children have collected and contributed objects which 

 were of real value and interest to the museum is significant. 



We have previously had the privilege of recording our indebtedness to 

 one of our members, Mrs. Elizabeth Davis, for the construction of a hand 



