848 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVII. No. 439. 



were the most creditable in our country, 

 and while they are still distinguished as 

 having been the fields of labor of some of 

 our greatest naturalists and as having pro- 

 duced research work of high and lasting 

 value to science, yet are they doomed to 

 sink into insignificance in comparison with 

 those of New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania 

 and California unless that public spirit 

 which has ever distinguished Massachusetts 

 be immediately aroused in their behalf. 



I 



Number of Museums in each State. 



Name of State. 



New York 



Pennsylvania 



Massachusetts 



Illinois 



California 



Ohio 



District of Columbia 



Virginia 



Colorado 



Kansas 



Maryland 



Wisconsin 



Connecticut 



Iowa 



Missouri 



Rhode Island 



Indiana, Minnesota, Tennessee. 



Georgia, Maine, Michigan .... 



Kentucky, South Carolina, Ver- 

 mont, Washington 



New Jersey 



Alabama, Mississippi, Ne- 

 braska, New Hampshire, 

 South Dakota, Texas . . 



Oregon 



Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, 

 North, Carolina, North Da- 

 kota, Utah 



New Mexico 



Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, 

 Idaho, Indian Territory, 

 Montana, Oklahoma, West 

 Virginia, Wyoming . . 



Within recent years Boston has acquired 

 what is probably the most extensive and 

 well-planned system of public parks in our 

 country, but it must be stated, to her dis- 



credit, that she gives nothing to the support 

 of her museums, all of which are struggling 

 against undeserved poverty. In this re- 

 spect she is more conservative than New 

 York, Philadelphia or Chicago; and even 

 small cities of Massachusetts display a 

 more enlightened policy than Boston.* 



The accompanying table gives the geo- 

 graphical distribution of our museums. 



RESOURCES AND EXPENDITURE OF OUR MU- 

 SEUMS. 



. No general consideration of museum ^ 

 economy in the United States has hitherto 

 been attempted. Believing that some inter- 

 esting results might be derived from such 

 a study, an examination was made of the 

 latest treasurers' reports of sixteen of our 

 leading museums, such as the National Mu- 

 seum, American Museimi of Natural His- 

 tory, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Field 

 Columbian Museum, Pennsylvania Museum 

 and School of Industrial Art, Free Mu- 

 seum of Science and Art of the University 

 of Pennsylvania, The Museum and Library 

 of the Art Institute of Chicago, Carnegie 

 Museum of Natural History, Museum of 

 Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, 

 Museum of the Boston Society of Natural 

 History, Cincinnati Museiun Association, 

 Peabody Museum of Archeology in Cam- 

 bridge, Detroit Art Museum, and three 

 other institutions which are under political 

 auspices and whose employees are con- 

 trolled by civil service rules. The total an- 

 nual income of these museums amounted to 

 $1,418,144, of which $723,583 was derived 

 from public grants, while $694,561 was ob- 

 tained from private sources consisting of 

 gifts, subscriptions, interest on endowment 

 and admission fees. This amount does not 

 include balances on hand at the beginning 

 of the year or the proceeds of sales of speci- 

 * In 1901-02 the city of Springfield, Massa- 

 chusetts, appropriated $29,945 for the mainte- 

 nance of its museums and library. 



