176 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 344. 



mind of the public b}^ a display of both ijja- 

 ture and art, and was a logical excitant of 

 those desires in the scientific and artistic 

 spirit of 'New York that led finally to the 

 establishment of our art and scientific mu- 

 seums. During the season of the World's 

 Fair the art and the products of Denmark, 

 France, England, Germany, Belgium, Hol- 

 land, were here superbly housed, and the 

 aldnaiMiinating effect upon our people cannot 

 \>b Overestimated. Its mention is essen- 

 tial for an appreciation of the conditions 

 preliminary and formative to the erection 

 of the present Museum of Natural Historj'. 



Those various enterprises and events so 

 briefly epitomized would not of themselves 

 have provided exactly the sort of stimulus 

 required to bring to a procreant stage the 

 undefined wishes of the leading citizens of 

 New York for a great museum. This 

 stimulus was provided, however. It arose 

 from two separated centers of scientific ac- 

 tivity, the organization of a Natural History 

 Survey of New York State, and the per- 

 suasive influences emanating from Louis 

 Agassiz at Cambridge. 



Zoology in New York State received an 

 early recognition in the labor of Samuel L. 

 Mitchill, who in 1813 commenced an ac- 

 count of the fishes of the State, which, how- 

 ever, when published became a local review 

 of the fishes near New York City. Contri- 

 butions to the ornithology of the State were 

 frequent, apart from the general works of 

 Wilson, Bonaparte, Audubon, Cooper and 

 DeKay, and AVilliam Cooper ; Bachman, 

 Le Conte, Barnes, Jay, Bailey, added fresh 

 studies in herpetology, mammalogy, conch- 

 ology and microscopy. As early as 1799 

 Mitchill had collected facts relative to the 

 mineralogy of New York State, and he was 

 succeeded by less-known names, until T. 

 Romeyn Beck published in 1813 a more 

 valuable review of this subject. The in- 

 terest in the natural productions grew, and 

 public attention and public funds became 



gradually involved in the examination. 

 Stephen Van Rensselaer in 1820 authorized 

 Amos Eaton and T. Romeyn Beck to make 

 a survey of the county of Albany. This 

 was later extended to Rensselaer County, 

 and over the line of the Erie Canal, the 

 latter exploration producing Eaton's famous 

 geological nomenclature and scheme of New 

 York geology. The realization amongst 

 public officers that the time was ripe for a 

 thoroughly organized survey was more and 

 more strengthened. In 1835, upon the mo- 

 tion of Chai'les P. Clich, a representative 

 from New York, the Assembly of this State 

 passed a resolution directing theSecretary of 

 State, John A. Dix, to report upon the most 

 expedient plan for a complete geological 

 and natural-history survey of the State. 

 Secretary Dix made the report, and on the 

 ISfch of April, 1836, this great survey was 

 sanctioned by the Legislature, its mainte- 

 nance provided for, and James E. DeKay, 

 John Torrey, Lewis C. Beck, William W. 

 Mather, Ebenezer Simmons, Timothy A. 

 Conrad, Lardner Vanuxem and later James 

 Hall were organized into a scientific direc- 

 torship of its interests. The immediate re- 

 sult of this survey was the erection of a 

 museum in Albany, and a new conception 

 given throughout its publications to the 

 importance of natural science. In 1869, 

 the year immediately preceding the foun- 

 dation of the museum, the survey had been 

 in operation some thirty years, and Pro- 

 fessor James Hall had gathered together a 

 private collection of remarkable dimensions, 

 representing the paleontological historj" of 

 the State. A lesson, if exhibited instruc- 

 tively to the public, in geological events 

 was here concealed, and only the facilities 

 and purposes of a great museum could 

 properly present it. The entire range of 

 facts embodied in the reports of the survey 

 and those of the New York State Cabinet 

 had sensibly deepened the growing impres- 

 sion and expectancj'^ that a great city must 



