State Museum of Natural History. 23 



Weedsport Union School.. 



Dryden Union School. 



Olean Free School and Academy. 



Kutgers College, New Brunswick, New Jersey. In exchange. 



I would be glad to recommend that some steps be taken to arrange, 

 according to generic and specific order, the duplicate fossils of the 

 museum collections. Many of these are now packed in boxes and are 

 only accessible with difficulty whenever a small collection is desired 

 for distribution to school or academy. In such difficulty it is natural 

 to seek those most accessible, and in this manner we may often send 

 away specimens in the smaller series which it would be desirable to 

 reserve for more important collections. 



The completion of volume V, part 1, on the Lamellibranchiata will 

 enable us to give authentic names to a large number of these fossils. 

 The collections from New York are much greater than from any other 

 State in the Union, and the volume now in press will give a greater 

 amount and variety of palaeozoic forms than have yet been published 

 in any country of America or Europe from the same formation. 



I would beg leave to suggest that certain sets of these duplicates be 

 set aside for exchange or presentation to some of the foremost museums 

 in Europe. In either case, were these collections in the museums of 

 Europe, it would lead to a clearer and higher appreciation of the work 

 which we have done, and make the work still more emphatically one 

 of authority in geological science. 



Such a course would serve to open an intercourse between the State 

 Museum and the more important museums of Europe, a feature which 

 I feel will be an important one for ourselves and will serve to facilitate 

 the future working of the institution. 



I would also beg leave to call your attention to the fact that there 

 are several very valuable collections in the State Museum which in 

 case of loss could not be replaced. In view of the conceded unsafe 

 condition of the present museum building, I would recommend that 

 the following collections be at once removed to the State Hall and 

 placed in some room of which the officers of the museum have entire 

 control. 



It is not necessary that these collections be displayed in cases, but 

 they may be placed in closed cases or drawers until the new rooms 

 shall be finished for their reception : 



(a.) The typical series of specimens of the Cephalopoda, used in the 

 preparation of volume V, part 2, of the Palaeontology of New York. 

 The collection numbers between eight and nine hundred specimens, 

 and is partially arranged under glass and partially in drawers. 



(#.) The collection of Gould's types of Mollusca. 



(o.) The Emmons collection of crystallized minerals. 



(d.) The Waldron series of Niagara fossils, of which many are types. 



(e.) The collection of translucent sections of rocks and fossils, 

 numbering more than three thousand specimens. 



(/.) The typical collection of Gasteropoda and Pteropoda of volume 

 V, part 2, Palaeontology of New York, are in the custody of the 

 Curator, as no available space has yet been assigned for their reception. 



