28 NINETEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE REGENTS, 



sider that tlie otiginal plan and object should be returned to and kept in 

 view. Among other points are to be considered the following: 



The historical value of the original collections cannot be over-estimated, 

 as these furnish authentic means of study and comparison. The plan 

 therefore should embrace a provision for the restoration of the old arrange- 

 ment, the preservation and authenticity of these collections as they existed 

 at the close of the work by the geological surveyors. 



Following this, the natural history of New York should be represented 

 and illustrated by specimens in every department ; deficiencies supplied, 

 and provision made for special investigation among those classes or families 

 of which we have but imperfect knowledge. 



I. Requirements of a Museum. 

 The present condition of science would require in any general museum 

 a series of collections which may be named in the following order : 



1. Greological series proper, which should illustrate the nature and suc- 

 cession of all rocks with their accompanying characteristic fossils. 



2. A geographical series, exhibiting the character of the formation in 

 each geological area, and for the State, each county or group of counties 

 occupying the same geological formation. 



3. An economical collection in its fullest meaning, where all the pro-^ 

 ducts of the earth, applied to useful "or ornamental purposes, shall be ex- 

 hibited. This may be so extended as to show the results obtained in the 

 several processes which the substances undergo in being prepared for their 

 final uses. 



4. A collection in paleontology, embracing all the genera iand species of 

 fossils, together with their living analogies, arranged for critical paleonto- 

 logical and zoological studies. This of course should be first carried out 

 for the State, and extended as rapidly as possible to other portions of the 

 country, and finally for the entire globe. 



5. A collection in zoology proper, which after being completed for the 

 State, should be extended over the United States, at least for certain 

 classes and orders necessary in the study of comparative zoology. In this 

 collection the external form alone should not be the final object, but skulls, 

 skeletons, dissections and microscopic preparations should form a prominent 

 part. 



6. A botanical collection, complete for the State, and extended beyond 

 in those forms which present the nearest analogy or aid in illustrating the 

 extinct vegetable productions of former periods. Specimens of vegetable 

 structures, tissues, etc., should be accumulated from all parts of the coun- 

 try and the world. 



II. Importance of Large Collections, 

 A prominent object should be the acquisition of stores of .duplicates in 

 every department. This is necessary (1) in order to ascertain the geogra- 

 phioal range of species, their variations in different localities, or as oaused 



