DELAWARE VALLEY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB 3 



had been chosen curator and librarian. He rented the part of 

 the building required for his museum and apparently made his 

 residence there also. The transfer of the collection was effected 

 in a spectacular manner. He says: "To take advantage of 

 public curiosity, I contrived to make a very considerable parade 

 of the articles, especially those which were large. As boys are 

 generally very fond of parade, I collected all the boys of the 

 neighborhood. At the head of the parade was carried on men's 

 shoulders the American buffalo, the panthers, tiger cats, and a 

 long string of animals carried by the boys. The parade from 

 Lombard Street to the Hall brought all the inhabitants to their 

 doors and windows to see the cavalcade. It was fine fun for 

 the boys. They were willing to work in such a novel removal 

 and saved me some expense in moving the delicate articles." ^ 



Later on a board of twenty-five directors was formed with 

 Thomas Jefferson as president in an effort to make the museum 

 a great national institution and to obtain legislative aid for its 

 improvement. In 1802 it was moved to Independence Hall 

 which had been vacated by Congress. The whole second floor 

 and tower were devoted to housing the collections, while Rem- 

 brandt Peale had his studio on the first floor. By 1805 and 

 probably earlier the name, " Philadelphia Museum " , had been 

 adopted and in subsequent years there has often arisen a con- 

 fusion between this museum and that of the Academy of Nat- 

 ural Sciences. Many types and historic specimens, recorded as 

 being in the the "Philadelphia Museum," have been errone- 

 ously credited to the Academy. 



The extent of Peale' s collection, especially for that early per- 

 iod, was really astonishing. Not only were the series of birds, 

 mammals and reptiles reasonably complete in the then known 

 species — even to the "Platipus" and " Orang Outang " but 

 there were specimens which would attract attention anywhere 

 today, notably two mounted skeletons of the Mastodon. Many 

 museum methods which we associate with comparatively recent 

 years were practiced in Peale's exhibits. Groups of birds and 

 mammals with painted backgrounds illustrating their habits 



» Colton. 



