ON THE STATE CABINET. 21 



York, and in this, as in otlier standards, the greatest accuracy is of course 

 necessary to preserve intact the information deposited with the specimens 

 in the State collections. The collection should be the basis for studying 

 the present creations from a geological and paleontological point of view, 

 and thus would naturally become the great school for American geologists. 

 It is,' however, impossible at the present day to study paleontology and 

 geology satisfactorily without constant reference to zoology. A small col- 

 lection, carefully selected, of such animals now living which are particu- 

 larly instructive to the paleontologist, is therefore an absolute necessity, 

 and should be arranged with the paleontological collection in such a manner 

 that they should be complimentary of each other. The collection should 

 be, as far as possible, under the direction of a single individual, to whom 

 all the details should be left, as well as the selection and appointment of 

 the assistants. The assistants should be appointed once a year, and thus 

 it would prevent the offices from becoming sinecures. The only check ne- 

 cessary for the director is that the assistants should be confirmed by a sci- 

 entific faculty. This faculty should, if .^possible, be independent of the 

 trustees, who have the pecuniary management of the institution, and have 

 '""the sole charge of the appointing of the scientific head of the cabinet. This 

 faculty would, if wisely selected, be more competent to administrate the 

 scientific matters of the cabinet, and would of course be regulated in their 

 action by the funds annually placed at their disposal by the trustees. The 

 funds thus placed at the disposal of the faculty should be completely under 

 the control (being only income) of the scientific head, for the necessary 

 expenditures of keeping the collection in order, and he should quarterly 

 render his accounts to the faculty. Owing to the great extent of scientific 

 inquiry, it is hardly possible for one man to have more than a very limited 

 acquaintance with the whole range of his department. He must have some 

 specialty, and the number of assistants required for the proper care of such 

 a cabinet must of course depend on the funds available. For a cabinet 

 such as should be established- for New York, besides the director of the 

 museum there should be 



One special assistant for mineralogy ; 



do do geology; 



do do vertebrata (fossil) ; 



do do invertebrata (fossil) ; 



do do zoology, in its application to paleontology. 



This is the least stafi" with which such an organization should be started. 

 The assistants will all be engaged in arranging their respective depart- 

 ments, under the general direction of the director, to carry out a carefully 

 laid plan. They will take care of the specimens which will surely be sent 

 in from all quarters to such an institution— and that will be no small part 

 of their labor — and can, during a certain part of the year, be sent off to 

 collect at localities which are particularly interesting, or would fill gaps 

 existing in the State cabinet. The special information the assistants pos- 



