232 . HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE 



separate local New England collection in each' department. Now to accomplish this, and 

 to provide for the safety of the fast increasing collections, it was absolutely necessary not 

 only to prepare rooms unfinished at the commencement of the decade, but to reconstruct 

 all the cases first erected in the building because of their defective character, as has been 

 mentioned on an earlier page. This change alone, with the necessary relabelling and 

 other work upon the specimens, was the labor of years, but one of vast importance to the 

 future influence of the Museum as an educational instrumentality. This great work could 

 not have been done in the thorough manner it was, had not the more important change 

 been first made of placing at the head of the Museum a scientific man whose single duty 

 it was to act as a Custodian, and to furnish him with jDaid assistants to work upon the 

 collections. Fortunately for the Society, Mr. Alpheus Hyatt, a man of large natural 

 endowments and of broad comprehensive views, was elected to this office. To him was 

 due the conception of the plan finally carried out for the arrangement of the whole Mu- 

 seum. It was the good fortune of the writer to be associated with him in this work and 

 to give the influence of his official position as President of the Society in having it fully 

 and faithfully done 



The financial resources of the Society were somewhat impaired during the decade by 

 the fitting up of the rooms alluded to and the reconstruction of the cases. It also suf- 

 fered by the great fire of 1872, having held a considerable amount of stock in insurance 

 companies which became worthless, and by being called upon to pay assessments to mutual 

 companies in which its property was insured. If thus for reasons not arising from any 

 fault or bad management the income of the Society was lessened, the Cormcil may well 

 point with satisfaction to the fact, that the ordinary expenses were not allowed to exceed 

 the income. To prevent this from being the case, however, much was left undone that 

 ought to have been done, and it was only by the pecuniary aid of neighbors and friends 

 that the Society was recently able to enclose the grounds about its Museum with a suitable 

 curbing of stone, and properly grade them. 



The Society lost by death during these ten years, many of its most highly valued and 

 honored members, Louis Agassiz, Dr. Jeffries Wyman, Dr. Charles Pickering, Edward 

 Pickering, Dr. John B. S. Jackson and Dr. Thomas M. Brewer, all of whom were conspic- 

 uous in its annals. It lost, too, by removal, some who in the early part of the decade 

 were prominent in its proceedings, one of whom was Dr. Sterry Hunt, the eminent geolo- 

 gist, and another. Dr. Samuel Kneeland, who for many years was a very efficient officer 

 and member, and often contributed specimens of considerable value to the collections. It 

 may truly be said of the latter that during his long connection with the Society he sel- 

 dom, if ever, left home without bringing back with him something for presentation. He 

 was almost a constant attendant too upon the meetings, and frequently took an active part 

 in them. 



. The members of the Society who took the most prominent part in the proceedings at 

 the general meetings and at those of the sections during the first five years of the decade 

 were S. H. Scudder, Dr. Thomas M. Brewer, Alpheus Hyatt, Dr. H. A. Hagen, P. W. Put- 

 nam, N. S. Shaler, Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, Thomas T. Bouve, Dr. Samuel Kneeland, Dr. 

 Charles T. Jackson, W. H. Niles, E. S. Morse, Dr. Charles Pickering, Edwin Bicknell, F. 

 G. Sanborn, Charles Stodder, Dr. Thomas Dwight, Jr., Dr. W. G. Farlow, Edward Burgess, 

 R. C. Greenleaf, Prof C. H. Hitchcock, Dr. C. S. Minot, B. P. Mann, Rev. J. B. Perry, L. 



