12 NINETEENTH A-NNUAL REPORT OF THE REQENTS, 



Montreal, Canada, December 27, 1865. 

 To S. B. WooLWORTH, Esq., Secretary of the Regents of the 



Unimrsity of the State of New York: 



Sir — In your circular dated June !,• 1865, you did us the honor to ask 

 for our views as to the* best plan for reorganizing the State Cabinet of Nat- 

 ural History, and in reply we beg leave to submit to you the following 

 suggestions : 



There should be established a general museum of Natural History, which 

 should cover the ground occupied by the great scientific, surveys of the 

 State, as set forth' in your published volumes. Inasmuch as in these sur- 

 veys the geological results took the first rank, and as the New York rocks 

 have become the types for the geology of the continent, the science of 

 ge'ohgy should have the first place in the museum, and botany and zoology 

 made subservient to it. To secure this end there should be. 



First. A complete collection of rocks, minerals and fossils of the State, 

 and for comparative study good collections of the rocks, minerals and fossils 

 of other parts of the world. In view of the special importance of the or- 

 ganic remains of the New York rocks, and the volumes on paleontology 

 published by the State, which have become classic throughout the scientific 

 world, every means should be taken to make the paleontological collection 

 as complete as possible. 'For this purpose we would recommend that there 

 should be added to the. present State collection that of Prof. James Hall, 

 the most extensive and most valuable collection of fossils in America, and 

 perhaps in the world. This collection possesses an additional importance 

 from the fact that it contains many .of the specimens upon which Professor 

 Hall's descriptions have been founded. Other typical collections of fossils 

 should also be procured by purchase or otherwise. 



Second. Collections of all the recent plants and animals of the State 

 should find a place in this museum, for the double purpose of a compara- 

 tive study with the more recent fossil remains, and of illustrating the works 

 on botany and zoology already published by the State. 



Third. Explorers, collectors, and active investigators in the several de- 

 partments already mentioned, should be employed, and the results of iheir 

 labors published in the form of a bulletin or report, to be issued under tlie 

 editorial care of the director of the museum. This person should be se- 

 lected for his high scientific attainments and pre-eminent position as a natu- 

 ralist, and should be one whose name would give a reputation to the mu- 

 seum throughout the scientific w*orld. As geology is to take a pre-eminent 

 position in this museum, the director should be above all a geologist. For 

 his assistants he should have a zoologist and botanist, who might perhaps 

 be united in one person, and also a chemist and mineralogist to make ori- 

 ginal investigations, for which purpose he would require a chemical labo- ■ 

 ratory. 



Fourth. Free courses of lectures on the vo-rious sciences illustrated by 



