874 



SCIENCE. 



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



poses to meet immediate wants by the erec- 

 tion of a laboratory building in which the 

 work of preparing and mounting material for 

 exhibition can be carried on. 



The report on the 'Prize Essay Contest' 

 for 1901 shows that this is an effectual method 

 for attracting the public school children to 

 the museum. 



Accompanying the report of the director is 

 a handsomely printed pamphlet giving an 

 account of the seventh annual celebration 

 of Founder's Day and containing the ad- 

 dresses delivered on that occasion by White- 

 law Eeid, E. W. Gilder and Joseph JefEerson. 



It may be added that parts three and four, 

 completing the first volume of the Annals of 

 the Carnegie Museum, have just been issued. 



The Annual Report of the director of the 

 Field Columbian Museum for 1901-1902 

 notes at the outset that the building has about 

 reached the limits of repair. It is to be hoped 

 that an arrangement may soon be made by 

 which the large and valuable collections of 

 this institution may be properly housed. The 

 museum did much field work during the past 

 year, resulting in important accessions to the 

 divisions of anthropology, zoology and pale- 

 ontology. The attendance has increased and 

 the series of excellent lectures were well at- 

 tended, both these facts marking a growing 

 interest of the public in the muaeiun. 



From a comparison of reports it would seem 

 that museum lectures are vastly better at- 

 tended in the United States than in Great 

 Britain, but the lavish use of lantern slides 

 here doubtless accounts for a part of the dif- 

 ference. Like the Carnegie Museum, the 

 Field Columbian Museum makes a direct 

 effort to attract the pupils of the public 

 schools, and with equal success. 



Of particular interest are the descriptions, 

 with illustrations, showing methods of in- 

 stallation of corals, paleontological specimens 

 and economic collections in the department 

 of botany. It is something of a question if 

 the new cases are not a little too severely 

 simple in their design, for while the prime 

 object of a case is to protect its contents, a 



«ase is unavoidably a feature of the hall con- 

 taining it. It would, therefore, seem to- call 

 for some architectural treatment, and the total 

 abolition of cornice and sash moldings gives 

 a case too much the appearance of a mere 

 box. 



Besides the illustrations referred to there 

 is a plate of a group of zebras, and views of 

 the groups recently completed by Mr. Akeley, 

 showing the Virginia deer in spring, summer, 

 autumn and winter. These have been in 

 preparation for a long time past, and are un- 

 questionably the most elaborate of the kind 

 anywhere, and the most successful of attempts 

 to imitate nature in museums. F. A. L. 



TEE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL 

 HISTORY. 



The ' Thirty-Fourth Annual Eeport ' (that 

 for 1902) of the American Museum of Natural 

 History was placed in the hands of the officers 

 of the Park Department on May 1. It in- 

 cludes, besides the president's report, the 

 financial statement for the year, the list of 

 accessions, and lists of the members, fellows 

 and patrons of the museum. 



A summary of the president's report is as 

 follows : 



The timely increase on the part of the city 

 of its annual appropriation for maintenance 

 (from $135,000 to $160,000) enabled the mu- 

 seum to complete its year's work without call- 

 ing upon the trustees for additional funds. 

 The city also appropriated $200,000 for a 

 power and heating station. 



Heretofore it has been necessary to borrow 

 money at the beginning of each year to pay 

 the current expenses for maintenance, pending 

 the refunding of such sums by the city, but 

 at the last annual meeting of the board of 

 trustees one of its members very generously 

 gave $15,000 to be used as a capital to meet 

 the current bills, pending their repayment 

 by the city, the only condition of the gift be- 

 ing that the treasurer's report should show a 

 credit balance of $15,000 at the close of each 

 year. The terms of the gift have been fully 

 complied with. 



At the annual meeting of the board of 



