14 NINETEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE REGENTS, 



IV. No provision which is not of a character extraordinary in Americsi 

 will meet the demands of science, of th^ proud position of the State, or the 

 expectations of the world in reference to the final results of the scientific 

 surveys of the most opulent and enterprising State of the Union. 



V. The organization contemplated might result in a university, or in an 

 institution for. the cultivation of natural history exclusively ; or in an insti- 

 tute for public lectures only. 



VI. To secure all the objects deemed desirable and win a success worthy 

 the name of the State, the institution, if an educational one, must be extra- 

 ordinary, either in its nature or resources. A mere multiplication of the 

 average institutions of learning in the country is to be deprecated. 



VII. The mere establishment of an annual course of free public lectures 

 does not seem to present a phase sufficiently scientific to insure the end 

 proposed in the first postulate. 



VIII. The provision likely to be granted for a university is not such as 

 would secure the supply of any public want not supplied by existing insti- 

 tutions, even after combining the State Cabinet with the existing law and 

 medical schools, and the astronomical observatory. It would not guarante'e 

 sufficient prominence to the department of Natural History to insure the 

 adequate preservation and perfection of the State Cabinet-. 



IX. An institution for natural history is the only alternative. This, 

 however, should avoid occupying exactly the same field as the Museum of 

 Comparative Zoology at Cambridge. At least its sphere should be viewed 

 from a different stand-point — that of geology. The institution might be 

 named " The Museum of Practical Geology." This name would be adapted 

 to the public taste, and using the term "practical" in its broadest and 

 truest sense, its scope would admit all the highest scientific investigations ; 

 while geology at the same time holds the sciences of mineralogy, zoology 

 and botany as legitimate accessories. 



The Museum of Practical Geology. 

 Assuming that an institution of the nature indicated in the last postulate 

 has been decided upon, I proceed to offer a feW suggestions under the fol- 

 lowing heads : 



I. The Collections. 



1. The existing Cabinet of Natural History should be restored in its 

 authenticity to the condition in which it existed at the close of the public 

 surveys. Especially in the departments of geology and paleontology should 

 efforts be made to restore and preserve the original specimens. 



2. The illustration of the natural history of the State of New York should 

 be rendered complete in all its departments, and from every section of the 

 State ; so that every species, both recent and fossil, shall be represented 

 in all its characters and phases. Especially in geology and paleontology, 

 the museum should be made the standard cabinet of the tjnited States. 



3i The methods of arrangement and nature of details may well be left 



