4 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



pressed astonishment that such an undertaking should even be con- 

 templated in view of the shortness of the time at command. "In 

 order to do the work before you, it seems tome," he said, "that 

 you ought to take at least two years." But of course that is impos- 

 sible. It no doubt will be two or three years before the Museum 

 will have assumed something like that appearance which it is designed 

 to ultimately have. Nevertheless it is anticipated that when the 

 formal opening occurs a very attractive and interesting beginning will 

 have been made. The Director, whose plans are being faithfully ex- 

 ecuted by his colleagues, cannot refrain at this time from uttering a 

 premonitory note of warning, so that the expectations of the public 

 may not be unduly raised. When it is recalled that there are already 

 in the custody of the Museum no less than a million and a quarter of 

 objects each one of which has its significance, each one of which re- 

 quires to be accurately determined and labeled and catalogued, and 

 each one of which has to be assigned to a place where it may be 

 readily found and referred to by those who may desire to consult the 

 collections, it will be seen that the mere clerical labor involved in 

 the undertaking is huge. In addition to this is the work of installa- 

 tion and display in the case of large portions of the collections, which 

 calls for the exercise both of scientific knowledge and of artistic 

 sense. When these facts are borne in mind it will be understood 

 that the work assigned to the comparatively small force in the employ- 

 ment of the museum is such as to tax their ability to the last degree. 

 However, as the dropping of water wears away the stone, so the per- 

 sistent and faithful efforts of the gentlemen of the staff of the Museum 

 will result in overcoming the great undertaking which is before them. 



During the past summer it was not deemed expedient, in view of 

 the necessities existing at the Museum, to send many members of the 

 staff into the field for the purpose of adding to our collections. The 

 only exception which was made was in the case of the section of pale- 

 ontology, for the maintenance of which and for the special carrying 

 on of explorations by which Mr. Carnegie himself makes an annual 

 appropriation. Dr. Percy E. Raymond made a visit to northern New 

 York and to Canada in quest of invertebrate fossils, in which he was 

 entirely successful. Mr. W. H. Utterback during the greater part of 

 the summer continued the work of uncovering and digging up fossils 



