50 Report of the President 



school curriculum. The number of pupils from the public 

 schools who attended lectures at the Museum in 1914 was 

 42,610, an increase of nearly 3,000 over 1913. Besides the 

 regular courses of lectures, several special lectures were given 

 by members of the department upon the request of schools. 



Other courses of lectures given in the auditorium of the 



Museum included a spring and a fall course for Members on 



_ , Thursday evenings, a spring and a fall course for 



General , , ., \ c t x 



the children of Members on Saturday mornings, 



the regular series given under the auspices of the 

 Board of Education, a lecture in conjunction with the Ameri- 

 can Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, three special 

 lectures to the blind, a course of four lectures on the Social 

 and Religious Customs and Beliefs of Primitive Men given by 

 members of the Department of Anthropology, and a lecture in 

 conjunction with the National Sculpture Society, the Archi- 

 tectural League of New York and the MacDowell Club. A 

 special lecture to Members was given on the Panama Canal by 

 Dr. Frederic Poole, and one on African animals by Mr. Paul 

 J. Rainey. A lecture in conjunction with the American 

 Alpine Club was also given and special lectures under the 

 auspices of the New York Academy of Sciences and Affiliated 

 Societies. 



Through the Jonathan Thorne Memorial Fund the work 



,_, . . _ for the blind has been carried on through- 



Education for , ■ : :_ , , ,, , 



_,. , out the year. During February and March, 



the Blind , c , .. , ... r . 



classes of blind pupils from the public schools 



of New York City visited the Museum twice a month. 



In the planning of the 1914-1915 schedule for the blind 

 classes in the public schools, special attention was given in 

 September to the correlation of the instruction given at the 

 Museum with the individual needs of each class of blind 

 pupils. The teachers of the blind were all visited and helpful 

 talks arranged, which not only illustrate and supplement the 

 school lessons, but give to the children a glimpse of the out- 

 side world that they would otherwise never have. The visits 

 to the Museum are recognized as a part of the school work, 

 and are made during school hours, at the time selected by the 



