50 Report of the President 



The general lectures given at the Museum have been even 

 more varied and extensive than usual. For Members there 

 have been two courses of lectures on Thursday eve- 

 Lectures n ings and two courses for the children of Members 

 on Saturday mornings. There were the regular 

 lectures under the auspices of the New York City Board of 

 Education, on Tuesday and Saturday evenings; two lectures 

 for the Blind ; and four lectures on Aboriginal Art by mem- 

 bers of the staff of the Department of Anthropology. In 

 cooperation with the American Scenic and Historic Preservation 

 Society, Members were given an opportunity to hear a lecture 

 by Dr. Joseph Kossuth Dixon on " Life Among the American 

 Indians." The biennial " Jesup Lectures," in cooperation 

 with Columbia University, were given this year by Dr. Charles 

 P. Berkey, the general subject being "Origin and Meaning 

 of Some Fundamental Earth Structures." 



What might be considered as minor lines of Museum Exten- 

 sion have received considerable attention. The loaning of 



exhibits to the New York Public Library 

 to the™ ExtenSi ° n and its branches was thoroughly reorgan- 

 Public Libraries ized and s P ecial consideration given to 



circulating collections for the children's 

 reading rooms. After consultation with several of the child- 

 ren's librarians, a number of exhibits was chosen illustrating 

 Eskimo Life, Indians of the Plains, Indians of the Southwest, 

 Life at the Seashore, Birds, Insects and Reptiles of the Spring- 

 time. They were of a somewhat general nature, but repre- 

 sentative, and simply and carefully labeled, and were allowed 

 to remain at each library for a month. Several departments 

 of the Museum, especially the Department of Anthropology, 

 cooperated in the work. 



During the autumn, the work was broadened to include 

 collections that would illustrate the librarian's weekly story 

 hour. For example, a collection of Dolls from Many Lands, 

 was put in circulation in the Christmas month, December. 

 Care was taken to see that all this material possessed a truly 

 human interest, and already results have shown that such col- 

 lections serve a twofold purpose: they stimulate the reading 



