Apeil 2, 1897. ] 



SCIENCE. 



543 



At Highland Light I found the hoary bat 

 less active and irregular in its movements 

 than the red bat. Its large and compai'a- 

 tively steady flight made it easier to shoot 

 than either of the two smaller species with 

 which it was associated. It began to fly 

 immediately after sunset. In the Adiron- 

 dacks Dr. C. Hart Merriam found the hoary 

 bat a late flj'er, and an exceeding diflicult 

 animal to kill on account of its swift, ir- 

 regular motions.* It is possible that while 

 on Cape Cod the animal modifies its habits 

 on account of the unusual surroundings in 

 which it finds itself The fatigue of a long 

 migration might also have an appreciable 

 effect on a bat's activity. 



lasionycteris noctivagans ( silver-haired 

 bat). 



September 1, 1890. One silver-haired bat 

 taken. 



September 2, 1890. Four taken and per- 

 haps a dozen others seen. 



The silver-haired bat was not seen again 

 during 1890. 



September 10, 1891. Three shot and prob- 

 ably half a dozen others seen. They were 

 mostly flying north. 



September 11, 1891. Two shot and four or 

 five more seen. 



September 12, 1891. About a dozen bats 

 seen. Some were without doubt this species, 

 but just what proportion I could not tell. 



While September 12th is the latest date 

 at which I have seen Lasionyeteris nodivagans 

 at Highland Light, I have a specimen killed 

 there by Mr. W. M. Small on October 28, 

 1889. Gerrit S. Miller, Jr. 



ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 

 MUSEUMS AND SCIENCE. 



The recently published report of the 1896 

 meeting of the Museums Association of 

 Great Britain shows how much interest is 

 taken and thought bestowed in rendering 



* Trans. Linn. Soc. New York, II, p. 78-83. 1884. 



museums instructive and attractive to the 

 public. The most interesting of the eleven 

 papers read, however, is one from the sharp- 

 pointed pen of Mr. F. A. Bather, dealing 

 with the scientific rather than the popular 

 side of museums, and entitled ' How May 

 Museums Best Retard the Advance of Sci- 

 ence?' Chief among these is " that jealousy 

 with which a museum curator should guard 

 the precious specimens entrusted to his 

 care, forbidding the profane hands of the 

 mere anatomist ever to disturb them in 

 their holy rest." This is a well-aimed shaft, 

 for specimens have no value save for the 

 information to be extracted from them, and 

 yet, in too many cases, they are regarded as 

 fetishes and, like Spirula and Notoryctes, cai-e- 

 fully bottled up with the probability that 

 they will eventually go to pieces without 

 yielding up any information. Another point 

 on which Mr. Bather dwells at some length 

 is the "idea of keeping certain collections 

 separate according as they happen to have 

 belonged to some pei'son with a lengthy 

 name * * * or to have been presented 

 by some individual who laid it down in his 

 will that his specimens were to be known 

 for all eternity as the ' Peter Smith Collec- 

 tion.' " This is a matter that was touched 

 on by Dr. Goode in his principles of Mu- 

 seum Administration, and, as he says, " the 

 acceptance of any collection, no matter how 

 important, encumbered by conditions, is a 

 serious matter, since no one can forsee how 

 much these conditions may interfere with 

 the future development of the museum." 

 Fortunately, the bequests received by the 

 larger museums of the United States are 

 practically unhampered. Other methods 

 of impeding the progress of science are no- 

 ticed, such as striking dullness through the 

 hearts of thousands by funeral rows of 

 stuffed birds with their Daelancholy Latin 

 names, and, as Mr. Bather says, much may 

 be done if a museum will keep its material 

 carefully to itself. On the question of 



