May 1907] PROCEEDINGS s. I. ass'n arts aN'd sciences. 131 



specimens and objects of historical interest is constantly growing. 

 Donations of books, specimens, and objects of great value are withheld 

 because we have no place to put them and make use of them. What 

 we actually receive, we have to store in the room generously provided 

 by the Staten Island Academy or entrust to kindly disposed members 

 for safe keeping. 



On April 12th, 1907, Hon. James S. Whipple, Forest, Fish and 

 Game Commissioner of the State of New York, upon the invitation 

 and under the auspices of the Association, delivered a public lecture at 

 the Curtis High School upon the preservation and development of the 

 State Forests. Though the night was stormy there was a large attend- 

 ance, and the lecture was received with evident interest and enjoyment. 

 It should become a part of the settled policy of the Association to in- 

 vite to our Borough scientists and others distinguished in the various 

 walks of life, who may contribute by public addresses to the accom- 

 plishment of our purposes and to the intellectual enjoyment and develop- 

 ment of our members and fellow citizens. 



Aiming to carry out the purposes of the Association, the Board of 

 Trustees have endeavored during the past year to secure the recognition 

 and aid of the municipal authorities in the effort to instal the museum 

 and library for the benefit of the public. Under this impulse an appli- 

 cation was made on behalf of the Association to the Commissioners of 

 the Sinking Fund to set aside the large room on the third floor of the 

 Borough Hall for the purpose of publicly exhibiting the collection of 

 specimens of the Association and devoting it and the scientific library 

 to the use of the public and particularly of the teachers and pupils of 

 the public schools. 



On the 14th day of November, 1906, the Sinking Fund Commis- 

 sioners unanimously passed a resolution as follows: 



''Resolved, that pursuant to the provisions of section 7 of chapter 

 526 of the Laws of 1905, the President of the Borough of Richmond 

 be and is hereby authorized to provide Room No. 309 on the third 

 floor of the Borough Hall, in the Borough of Richmond, for the use of 

 the Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences, for the occupying 

 and maintaining of the Museum Collection and Library of said Asso- 

 ciation; said permission and assignment to continue during the pleasure 

 of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund." 



Application was then made on behalf of the Association to the 

 Board of Estimate and Apportionment for an appropriation of $3500, 

 covering the cost of instalation and salaries of a curator and an assist- 

 ant. It was supposed that the Borough President had'sufificient fund& 



