August 13, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



203 



birds and insects." This collection served 

 at least one important purpose, since it is 

 said to have awakened in President John 

 Adams an interest in natural science which 

 led to the founding of the American Acad- 

 emy of Arts and Sciences. 



The first natural history museum to be 

 established in our country, so far as ap- 

 pears from present records, was at Charles- 

 ton, S. C, in March, 1773. This was 

 founded under the auspices of the Charles- 

 ton Library Society. The society urged, in 

 order to present a "full and accurate Nat- 

 ural History" of the Province, that all the 

 "natural Productions, either Animal, Veg- 

 etable or JMineral that can be had in their 

 several Bounds," be sent to them. It is 

 gratifying that this museum has retained 

 its existence to the present day and under 

 the influence of its present able and ener- 

 getic director is younger and stronger than 

 ever. As might be expected, Massachusetts 

 did not yield long in initiative to South 

 Carolina, so that we find the next natural 

 history museum to be established in this 

 country was at Salem, Mass., in 1799. 

 This was founded to provide a permanent 

 home for the collection of the Bast Indian 

 Marine Society. Salem was at that time a 

 great trading port and its ships traveled 

 over all the world. Eeturning ship-masters 

 brought back the products of many lands, 

 and these rapidly formed an important col- 

 lection. We are glad to record for this 

 institution also a continuous career and 

 abounding vitality at the present time. An- 

 other important early natural history mu- 

 seum in this country was the private mu- 

 seum of Charles "Wilson Peale. Peale was 

 a portrait painter of Philadelphia, but, 

 though an artist by profession, was much 

 interested in natural history. The founda- 

 tion of his collection was a few of the bones 

 of a mammoth, which he acquired in 1785. 

 Sixteen years later he obtained the first en- 



tire skeleton of this animal which had, up 

 to that date, been found. Besides speci- 

 mens of natural history his museum con- 

 tained wax figures of the different nations 

 of the North American Indians, a collection 

 of their arms and utensils, other Indian 

 and European curiosities, and casts of an- 

 cient gems and statues. 



The United States National Museum was 

 practically founded in 1846, when, under 

 the plans for using the Smithson bequest, 

 arrangements were made for a museum in 

 what is, incidentally, one of the longest 

 sentences on record, as follows: 



Whenever suitable arrangements can be made 

 from time to time for their reception, all objects 

 of art and of foreign and curious research, and all 

 objects of natural history, plants and geological 

 and mineralogical specimens belonging to the 

 United States, which may be in the city of Wash- 

 ington, in whosesoever custody they may be, shall 

 be delivered to such persons as may be authorized 

 by the board of regents to receive them, and shall 

 be so arranged and classified in the building erected 

 for the Institution as best to facilitate the exami- 

 nation and study of them; and whenever new 

 specimens in natural history, geology or mineral- 

 ogy are obtained for the museum of the Institu- 

 tion, by exchange of duplicate specimens which the 

 regents may in their discretion make, or by dona- 

 tion which they may receive, or otherwise, the 

 regents shall cause such new specimens to be ap- 

 propriately classed and arranged. 



In pursuance of this plan, in the build- 

 ing erected for the Smithsonian Institution, 

 30,000 square feet of space was made avail- 

 able for exhibition purposes. Occupancy 

 of this was acquired in 1858. This space 

 became inadequate after the Centennial 

 Exposition, and in 1881 a new building 

 providing 90,000 square feet of space was 

 added. This building was occupied in part 

 by industrial and historical collections, but 

 those of natural history required by far the 

 largest space. In a little more than twenty- 

 five years the natural history collections, in 

 which is included anthropology, had so in- 



