SCIENCE 



Frtoay, August 13, 1915 



CONTENTS 

 The Sise of Natural History Museums: Dr. 

 Olivee C. Fakbington 197 



The Bacteria of the Intestinal Tract of Man: 

 Dr. a. I. Kendall 209 



The Protection of Birds in the Malay Penin- 

 sula 212 



Beverchon Parle, Dallas, Texas 213 



British Scientific Men in Military Service .... 214 



The American Chemical Society 215 



Scientific Notes and News 216 



University and Educational News 218 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 



Cancer and Heredity: Dr. C. C. Little. 

 Badium Fertilizer: R. R. Ramsey. Sugar- 

 beet Mosaic: C. 0. Townsend. Delphinus 

 and Plwccena in the Delaware: Henry W. 

 Fowler 218 



Scientific BooTcs: — ■ 



Guide Book of the Western United States: 

 Dr. J. E. Hyde 220 



Proceedings of the National Academy of Sci- 

 ences : Pkoeessor Edwin Bidwell Wilson. 222 



Special Articles: — 



On Hydration and "Solution" in Gelatin: 

 Dr. Martin H. Fischer 223 



Societies and Academies : — 

 Section of Biology and Geology of the Acad- 

 emy of Science and Art of Pittsburgh: 

 Charles R. Fettke 226 



MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 

 reriew should be sent to Professor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison- 

 on-Hudson. N. Y. 



THE BISE OF NATURAL HISTOBY 

 MUSEUMS^ 



Whence they come and whither they go 

 are inquiries that should be made from time 

 to time by all institutions in order that they 

 may profit by the experiences of the past 

 and survey the way of the future. Owing 

 to obvious limitations, I shall attempt to 

 sketch the growth of but a single division 

 of the museums represented in this associa- 

 tion, leaving to others the rounding out of 

 the inquiry if it shall ever seem to them 

 desirable to do so. 



A desire to preserve objects of nature 

 which aroused special interest or possessed 

 unusual powers may be presumed to have 

 been an instinct of the earliest man. "We 

 may imagine the cave man storing in his 

 cave the bright gem, or curious seed, or rare 

 animal skin which attracted his attention 

 and, perchance, urging upon his descend- 

 ants the desirability of preserving it. Such 

 instincts are undoubtedly possessed by bar- 

 barous tribes. But such hoards have no 

 permanent value or maintenance as long as 

 there is a lack of a fixed habitation or of a 

 social organization sufficiently strong to 

 pass them from one generation to another. 

 Hence, it may be noted in passing, an essen- 

 tial condition for the existence of museums 

 is a sufficiently civilized and permanent 

 state of society to preserve objects from 

 generation to generation. 



In the life of the ancient Egyptians con- 

 ditions making toward the preservation of 

 natural objects doubtless became more 

 favorable than had previously been the 



1 Presidential address read at the meeting of 

 tlie American Association of Museums, San Fran- 



