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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1139 



number of small portable habitat groups such as 

 that of the western meadowlark, which may be seen 

 in the office upstairs. These we propose to loan to 

 the public schools should they desire them. 



It is hoped that the necessary funds for these 

 exhibits may be supplied by private donations, so 

 that the net regular income of the academy may 

 be reserved chiefly for scientific research. The 

 large groups cost from $3,000 to $4,000; the small 

 groups about $500 each; and the portable educa- 

 tional groups about $100 to $250 each. 



It is hoped that this opportunity to do some- 

 thing worth while may appeal to- those who are 

 interested in education and who have the means to 

 help along in such excellent work. What a splen- 

 did thing it would be for San Francisco and the 

 state if, among those present here to-day, there 

 might be some so impressed with the opportunity 

 to help in this good work that they would provide 

 the means to enable the academy to add a dozen 

 or more groups to the excellent series so well be- 

 gun. We have the expert taxidermists and pre- 

 parators to do the work; we need only the funds 

 to meet the expense. 



In conclusion, may I be permitted to mention 

 one other need of the museum, to which I have 

 called attention on another occasion. 



It is my ambition that there shall be in this 

 museum a Children's Boom — a room in which will 

 be displayed natural history objects such as are 

 particularly attractive to little children. There 

 would be in this room brightly and curiously col- 

 ored birds and butterflies, moths and beetles and 

 other insects; curious animals of other groups; at- 

 tractive minerals, growing plants, and aquariums 

 with interesting and instructive animal and plant 

 life; colored transparencies of beautiful native 

 flowers, all selected and arranged with reference 

 to the telling of an interesting story, of teaching 

 a definite lesson. 



And there will be in this children's room a chil- 

 dren's reading room in which will be found a li- 

 brary of all the interesting and reliable nature 

 books and helps to nature study. 



And there will be in charge of this children's 

 room a well-educated, kindly, sympathetic man 

 or woman who knows animals and plants; who 

 knows the specimens in the museum and the live 

 things in the park about it; and who, above all, 

 knows and loves children; a man or woman who 

 can wisely direct the observation and the reading 

 of the children so that they may correlate their 

 reading with what they have seen in the museum or 

 in the open, and thus increase rather than stifle 



their interest in, and love for, animate things, as 

 our public schools almost invariably do. It will 

 be arranged so that children of the different 

 grades will come to this room at different hours, 

 and receive the instruction and help and encour- 

 agement adapted to their respective needs. 



And all this will be done and done soon, I confi- 

 dently believe. It will be done because it so evi- 

 dently appeals to us all as being the right thing to 

 do, the right sort of education and training to give 

 our children. It will be done, because the beauty 

 and worth of it all, for the little children's sake, 

 will appeal to some one who has prospered in this 

 world; some one with a kindly heart, who loves 

 children, and who wants to help them to become 

 the men and women they should become; and some 

 day that man or woman will come forward — I 

 wish it might be to-day — and, out of his abun- 

 dance, endow a Children's Boom in this museum, 

 and thus make it possible for the California Acad- 

 emy of Sciences to do this splendid work for the 

 children of California, not only of to-day but for 

 those of the years to come. 



At the close of the formal dedicatory exer- 

 cises a private view of the exhibits thus far 

 installed was afforded the museum's guests, of 

 whom nearly one thousand were present in re- 

 sponse to the special invitation. 



Large habitat groups have been completed 

 of the following: San Joaquin Valley elk, 

 black-tail deer (summer scene), mule deer 

 (winter scene), antelope, desert mountain- 

 sheep, leopard seal, California sea-lion, 

 Steller's sea-lion, mountain-lion, black bear, 

 raccoon and striped skunk, coyote, Farallon 

 Islands bird rookeries, San Joaquin Valley 

 water-bird group, and a desert-bird group. A 

 California condor group is nearly completed, 

 and small groups of the California Valley 

 quail and western meadowlark have been 

 finished. 



A number of additional groups will be in- 

 stalled in the near future, as materials and 

 funds become available. 



That the museum of the California Acad- 

 emy of Sciences has at once taken a promi- 

 nent and secure place in popular favor is evi- 

 denced by the phenomenally large attendance 

 following its formal opening to the general 

 public on Sunday, September 24, when 9,812 

 visitors were recorded. On each of the week 



