August 2, 1901.] 



SCIENCE. 



1G9 



in the study of nature. The Lyceum was 

 in a precarious condition for many yeai's, 

 and, at least until 1836, led a shifting, and 

 in some respects shiftless, life. In the lat- 

 ter year it occupied its own building at 563 

 Broadway, and here the elder Stillman 

 began a series of lectures on geology, seven 

 in all, which produced a moderate sensat;ion 

 in the controversies of the day. A museum 

 was a part of the appropriate features 

 of the society and these were increased 

 by donations to such an extent that 

 Mr. J. H. Eedfield, a competent judge, 

 alludes to them as 'large,' a term cer- 

 tainly of variable significance in the 

 mouth of a collector. The exact nature 

 and contents of these collections can be 

 determined from the chapter on collections 

 in Professor Fairchild's ' History.' In view 

 of the many local features now introduced 

 in the halls of the Museum and as a means 

 of determining the advance made in the 

 expectations and ambitions of a Museum, 

 a glance at these collections is instructive. 

 As early as 1817, Messrs. Torrey, Rafines- 

 que and Knevels were made a committee 

 ' to travel and explore the natural history 

 and productions of the neighboring coun- 

 ties'; with them in this work were associated 

 Drs. Mitchill and Towusend. Bones of a 

 mastodon were found in Orange Co., later 

 were added a right whale and a swordfish, 

 from the Atlantic, while specimens of the 

 Wallkill carp and pike, and ' white wild 

 sheep ' from the Rocky Mountains, formed 

 the nuclei of an increasing cabinet. 

 ' Measures for completing a catalogue of 

 the vegetables growing within 100 miles of 

 the city ' were early instituted, a device 

 now variously illustrated in the collections 

 of plants, buds and insects made to-day. 

 Minerals were added, and repeated addi- 

 tions of snakes and fishes, fossils, skeletons, 

 plants and shells gave it a local reputation 

 and naturally engendered some self- con- 

 gratulation amongst its members. But 



when we learn that it was all accommodated 

 in sixty-two boxes, the reader, familiar with 

 existing needs, is recommended to realize 

 how ideas and ideals advance. 



It is not incumbent upon a historian of 

 the American Museum to dwell upon the 

 struggles of the Lyceum, but it would be 

 an error in precision not to indicate the in- 

 fluence this and similar or affiliated move- 

 ments had in determining its inception, and 

 especially pointing out the critical relations 

 in 1865 of the Lyceum to the projected 



The Lyceum Bailcling, No. 563 Broadway.* 



American Museum. The Lyceum increased 

 in its membership and the papers read at 

 its meetings by Juo. J. Audubon, De Witt 

 Clinton, James E. Dekay, Jno. LeCompte, 

 Samuel L. Mitchill, Jno. Torrey, Asa Gray, 

 G. Troost, Thos. Bland, James D. Dana, 

 Theodore Gill, Gen. L. Lawrence, Jno. H. 

 Redfield, Temple Prime, Alexander Agas- 

 siz, W. A. Dall, J. S. Newberry, William 

 Stimpson, Benj. JS". Martin, Augustus R. 

 Grote, while listened to by a small audi- 

 ence, were contributions to the development 

 of scientific feeling in New York. Dr. Jno. 

 C. Jay, whose collections in conchology 

 formed the nucleus of the present cabinet 



* This and other illustrations to this article are pub- 

 lished by the courtesy of Professor H. L. Fairchild. 



