State Museum of Natural History. 13 



The Natural History department of the Britisli Museum offers a. 

 good example in point. When the increasing collections demanded 

 more space and the accumulations were stored in basement and 

 cellar to overflowing, the argument for more space became irre- 

 sistible. Another site was considered important, and many of the 

 trustees were in favor of still retaining the Museum in the heart 

 of London, where a space of three acres could be procured on 

 which to erect a building, and thus separate the Natural History 

 departments from the Library of the British Museum. But the 

 wise counsels of Prof. Owen, after an experience of more than fifty 

 years of service, finally prevailed, and instead of the three acres in 

 the heart of London, the trustees purchased twenty-five acres in 

 Kensington, and the Natural History department of the British 

 Museum with its excellently appointed Laboratories has become 

 the admiration of the whole world. 



When I assumed charge of the Museum in 1866, there was 

 abundant space on every floor of the building and the great 

 problem was to find proper material for its occupancy. The 

 Mazatlan collection of shells presented by Dr. Carpenter had been 

 arranged, principally at the eastern end of the room, while other 

 portions of the collection were disposed in space at the western 

 end. Almost at the outset we were able to secure the liberal 

 appropriation of $5,000, for the purchase of the Gould collec- 

 tion which was arranged in new cases in the central area, 

 and this with the cases of mammals, birds and fishes gave an air 

 of completeness in the arrangement. Mr. Charles Wadsworth had 

 about that time presented a collection of casts of Megatherium, skull 

 and tusks of the Sewalik Elephant, the skull of Dinotherium, 

 Glyptodon et cetera. 



These were arranged upon the first floor above the offices. The 

 discovery of the Cohoes Mastodon gave us an interesting and 

 important addition to our collections as well as an added impulse 

 in the way of public interest in the Museum. 



In order to provide for this and other accessions, the open areas 

 in the floors at either end of the first floor were closed and upon 

 one of the areas thus created upon the second floor were arranged 

 the collection of casts just mentioned, and on the other the Mas- 

 todon skeleton and the skeleton of the Irish elk, together with 

 separate jaws, skull, teeth and other bones of the Mastodon and 

 also casts of a skull, a lower jaw of special interest, together with 



