The Natural History Museum Movement 55 
at all? But let us not forget that all of the artificialities 
of life are based upon natural resources. Without the cow, 
there will be no canned milk! Unless someone studies the 
life history of the silk worm, my lady will have no silk 
stockings! We do not raise our wheat under glass, and 
you cannot construct desirable hardwood floors out of re- 
inforced concrete. We are not educated to the appeal of 
the real thing. We crave to see a green ostrich or a pink 
elephant! Why take the trouble to show the clam with 
the pearl in place when you can see a whole string of 
near-pearls about almost any woman’s neck? 
There are some of us who are optimistic, and if we 
cannot make our appeal to the reasonableness of adults 
perhaps we ean arouse the curiosity of the child. If we 
wish to get away from the artificialities of life, we can 
do but little with adults; their physical and mental habits 
are too well formed, but coming generations may profit if 
we can but make a start. With the start in the Educa- 
tional Museum, why cannot this sort of thing be kept up? 
I have fallen down. I have been accused, and rightly 
accused, of being unable to sell the proposition to the 
citizens of St. Louis. I have been unable to locate a 
single person who will put his shoulder to the wheel and 
help this good thing along. I don’t even demand he be 
sincere in his motives. I have spoken before many organ- 
izations and each one has gladly subscribed to the senti- 
ment that a natural history museum would be a desirable 
quantity. I can also see that we can have that charming 
sentiment from every single individual in the city direc- 
tory and still maintain our larval museum in its comatose 
condition. I am not complaining, and I am not criticizing 
anyone but myself. 
Some day we will have a museum. Some day, some- 
one, somehow, will take pity on us and look upon the fire 
