THE PEABODY MUSEUM. 399 



ZOOLOGY. 



THE PEABODY MUSEUM, YALE COLLEGE. 



The original gift by the late George Peabody was 1150,000 ; of this sum 

 $20,000 is to bo entirely reserved until it amounts to at least $100,000, when 

 it may be used for other parts of the whole edifice. A sum of $30,000 is also 

 reserved to provide something toward an income for the maintenance and 

 care of the Museum. 



After $20,000 and $30,000 had been thus set aside irom the fund, $100,000 

 remained for the erection of the present building, and that sum was invested 

 with such judicious skill that its total was finally raised, in the course of 

 about ten years, to $176,000. The executive officers of the board to whom 

 this trust was confided, arc Profs. J. D. Dana, Gr. J. Brush and O. C. Marsh. 



The Peabody Museum is of brick, with stone trimmings. It is practic- 

 ally of five stories, since both the basement and attic are high and well 

 lighted. The present structure consists of a main building and a wing ; the 

 roofs are lofty and pinnacjed. In the design the building is not severely 

 simple, yet it is not overloaded with ornament ; in this particular, both as 

 to details and general outline, the happy mean is struck. The architect is 

 Mr. J. C. Cady of New York. 



In the Peabody Museum no pains have been spared to put the e:s:hibitioii 

 on easy terms with the public, so that a person of fair average information 

 passing attentively through the rooms, will be instructed as well as gratified 

 by even a hasty survey. The collections are systematic, and they are 

 a,rranged systematically. The first floor is devoted to mineralogy, except as 

 to the space taken for a fine lecture room ; the second floor to geology, in- 

 cluding fossils; the third to osteology and general zoology; the fourth to 

 archgeology and ethnology. 



Without intending any disrespect to the footprints, the precious stones, 

 the mammoth, the six-horned dinoceras, or even the birds with teeth, the 

 curiosity-seeker may for the moment pass them by and begin with the third 

 story, where are the specimens of zoology, the life of the present day. Of 

 course the subsequent proceedings will be soniewhat undignified if the start 

 is made at the top of the ladder, but the human race should be always the 

 first to claim our sympathies. Since the proper study of mankind is man, 

 it is well to begin here with the case nearest the door, labelled "Primates." 

 There they stand in a row, in just the condition that Sydney Smith wished 

 for in hot weather — with all the flesh removed from their bones. And now 

 — how shall I state it tenderly without giving offence? — the Primates of 

 science, unlike those of the Church, include, with man, the monkeys; and 

 looking down the row of skeletons and skulls, it is not easy to say at a 

 glance where man ends and ape begins. There are skulls with lofty foreheads 



