July 14, 1922] 



SCIENCE 



33 



of the museum is cared for by the city, the 

 scientific side is entirely eared for from trus- 

 tees' funds. It is interesting to record that 

 during the past sixteen years the total amount 

 contributed by the trustees, members and 

 friends of the museum to the endowment and 

 to the enrichment of the collections was 

 $11,871,722. Although the present city gov- 

 ernment has been more liberal than any of its 

 predecessors, providing for annual maintenance 

 the generous sum of $352,025.52, the generosity 

 of citizens of New York so far exceeds this 

 provision by the taxpayers that it nearly 

 doubles it. Thus, for every dollar contributed 

 by the city from tax funds, the citizen receives 

 $3.00. The growing appreciation of the mu- 

 seum by the public is shown by the attendance 

 which has risen from 613,152 in 1910 to 

 1,174,397 in 1921. Sunday opening, which was 

 one of the most warmly debated questions in 

 the early history of the museum, leading to the 

 resignation of some of our strict Sabbatarians, 

 during the year 1921 totaled 327,888, showing 

 that the museum is sought for wholesome and 

 inspiring education during the Sunday • after- 

 noon hours by constantly increasing numbers. 

 The Sunday attendance during January, 1922, 

 alone has been 51,062. 



Like all other educational and municipal 

 institutions, the operating cost of the museum 

 has doubled during the last decade. This 

 increase, however, is not due to the increased 

 number of employees or to extravagance, but to 

 the necessary increase in salaries and material 

 required for the proper upkeep. For the year 

 1921 the museum experienced a deficiency of 

 $88,249.48, to meet which $56,000 was con- 

 tributed from the accrued interest on the Mar- 

 garet Olivia Sage Fund and $32,348.42 was 

 contributed individually by the trustees. For 

 the year 1922 the trustees have reluctantly cut 

 down the work of the museum by the amount 

 of $81,059.56, and have guaranteed to raise 

 $40,000 through their personal contributions 

 and the gifts of members and friends. Real- 

 izing that this deficiency can only forever be 

 obviated by increasing the general endowment 

 fund and that for the immediate future the 

 sum of $2,000,000 should be raised, the trustees 

 announced at a meeting of the executive com- 



mittee of the board, held on May 20, 1922, that 

 their efforts to raise $2,000,000 during the 

 present year by public contributions to its per- 

 manent endowment fund were receiving united 

 and generous support from public spirited citi- 

 zens, who, after a thorough investigation of the 

 educational activities of the museum, were con- 

 vinced of the worthiness of the undertaking. 



The initial subscription of $250,000 came 

 from Mr. George F. Baker, who, in addition to 

 his previous gifts, now contributes that sum to 

 the capital fund of the museum, the income 

 from which is to be at the disposal of the trus- 

 tees. Closely following Mr. Baker's gift, Mr. 

 John D. Rockefeller, Jr., wrote to President 

 Osborn that he long had felt that the American 

 Museum of Natural History was an important 

 factor in the educational and scientific life of 

 New York City, and that it gave him pleasure 

 to contribute $1,000,000 toward the permanent 

 endowment, the income of which was to be 

 available for any of the current needs of the 

 museum. Mr. Rockefeller stated that he real- 

 ized the unwisdom of seeking to forecast the 

 requirement of the distant futui-e, and was 

 fully conscious of the dangers attendant upon 

 the establishment of any endowment fund in 

 perpetuity and, therefore, it would be agree- 

 able to him, if in the judgment of the trustees 

 it was wise, to have the whole or any portion 

 of the principal of this gift devoted to any of 

 the corporate purposes of the museum. To 

 the above sums is to be added the amount re- 

 ceived from the Eno bequest by which, accord- 

 ing to the settlement of the contested will, the 

 museum receives $272,000, of which $200,000 

 is to be added to the endowment fund. 



Through the generosity of friends and from 

 museum funds, work in the field has been 

 undertaken with renewed efforts. The third 

 Asiatic expedition, under the leadership of Roy 

 C. Andrews, has begun preliminary work in 

 China and has already forwarded valuable 

 zoological material. This expedition will be in 

 the field for five years. Rollo H. Beck, work- 

 ing under the auspices of the Whitney fund, is 

 securing thousands of specimens of bird, animal 

 and plant life from the remote islands of the 

 South Seas. In Australia, Dr. W. K. Gregory 

 and Harry C. Raven established most cordial 



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h JUL 1 7 1922 ^; 



