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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1076 



wolves and eagles which fed upon them. 

 These in turn are doomed to practical ex- 

 tinction. A large share of the animals and 

 plants inhabiting this continent at the time 

 of its discovery by Europeans are not des- 

 tined to survive long except as they are pro- 

 tected by man, and some will become extinct 

 in spite of him. The wild pigeon, so com- 

 mon in Audubon's time that he saw ship- 

 loads which had been caught up the Hud- 

 son for sale on the wharves of New York 

 for a cent apiece, has become entirely ex- 

 tinct. Other birds, flowers and even min- 

 erals have also become extinct in this coun- 

 try since the first coming of the Europeans. 

 To museums must be largely assigned the 

 work of conserving the remains of such 

 forms ere they are absolutely lost. Speci- 

 mens which are valuable now will be price- 

 less in years to come. As but a single illus- 

 tration of the value which specimens pre- 

 served now may prove to have later, may 

 be mentioned the fact that an important 

 link in the study of mutations has lately 

 been furnished by specimens collected in 

 this country by Michaux in 1785 and pre- 

 served in the Natural History Musevim of 

 Paris. 



Again, interest in natural history mu- 

 seums has doubtless been quickened in re- 

 cent years through recognition of the evo- 

 lutionary trend of nature. This has given 

 new meaning to her works and suggested 

 interesting methods for the arrangement of 

 collections. Where so well as in museums 

 can the successive stages be shown by 

 which the progress of nature has gone on, 

 by which the creature has become adapted 

 to its environment and the fittest has sur- 

 vived? As this great law of life is found 

 more and more to express nature's meth- 

 ods, its lessons can be convincingly and 

 satisfactorily taught by museums. 



While a desire for more knowledge of 

 nature has been the prevailing influence in 

 the establishment of natural history mu- 



seums, it should not be forgotten that these 

 museums have themselves in turn contrib- 

 uted much to a knowledge of nature. Not 

 only has this been done by research work 

 and publications, but even in some cases by 

 the mere necessity for orderly arrangement 

 of museum material. The science of 

 archeology is said to have dated its origin 

 from the time of the arrangement of the 

 Museum of Copenhagen. The study of 

 meteorites has been made possible as a sci- 

 ence by the accumulation of a large num- 

 ber of these bodies by museums. All bio- 

 logical sciences must admit their obligations 

 to natural history museums for many of the 

 data which have aided in their develop- 

 ment. 



The brief sketch which has been sub- 

 mitted serves to show that natural history 

 museums must now be fully recognized as 

 an indispensable feature of modern civili- 

 zation, and I believe that the progress of 

 civilization will only fix them more firmly 

 in this place. The vicissitudes which the 

 development of these museums has suffered 

 have only emphasized their importance and 

 made more evident their functions. The 

 opportunities which now open before them 

 are larger and at the same time more clearly 

 defined than ever. 



As an ideal toward which not only nat- 

 ural history museums, but all museums, so 

 far as the outlook at the present day is con- 

 cerned, should work, I can not do better 

 than to quote, with some slight modifica- 

 tions, an utterance of Ruskin : 



The first function of a museum is to give an ex- 

 ample of perfect order and elegance. Everything 

 should be in its own place, everything looking its 

 best because it is there. Nothing should be 

 crowded, nothing unnecessary. The museum ia 

 only for what is eternally right and well done. 

 The least things are there and the greatest, and 

 all good. The simple may go there to learn, and 

 the wise to remember. 



Oliver Cummings Fareington 

 Field Museum of Natural History 



