Attendance 39 



122 pages on the "Fishes of the Vicinity of New York City," 

 a Guide Leaflet of 73 pages on "Insects and Disease," 18,000 

 lecture booklets, and 5,000 circulars for membership. 



Summary of Printing — 1918 



Impressions 



Letter-heads 32,300 



Field and Reserve Collection Labels 22,015 



Report, Requisition and Other Forms 120,071 



Catalogue Cards, Tickets to Lectures, etc 357,752 



Programs, Circulars, Invitations 113,850 



Color Plates and Inserts for the Journal, 



20,500 Copies 185,000 



Other Plates 20,400 



Popular Publications and Circulars, 10,000 Copies . 35,000 



Individual Labels 252 



Descriptive Labels .... 687 



939 (average of 5 each) 4,695 



891,083 



The laws that govern museum attendance have not yet been 

 discovered and formulated, and one can only say that, like bird 

 migration, it is largely affected by the weather; 

 cold or rain keeps the public in their homes ; the 

 fine weather of spring takes them into the parks or the nearby 

 country; cool bright days when the walking is good but it is 

 too chilly to sit by the wayside bring visitors to museums. But 

 sudden losses in attendance may and do occur without ap- 

 parent reason, even when the number and character of the ex- 

 hibits are steadily improving. So it is encouraging to note that 

 the attendance of 1918 has been good in spite of the uneasiness 

 and uncertainty caused by the war, in spite of the bitter 

 weather of the early part of the year, and in spite of the epi- 

 demic of influenza that swept over the country in the fall and 

 winter. 



Bagehot's dictum in regard to statistics is well known; but 

 much depends on knowing the attendant circumstances. Thus, 

 while there was an apparent loss of 158,849 visitors to the ex- 

 hibition halls in 1918, when compared with 1917, this is due 

 largely to the decreased attendance during the spring and fall 

 flower shows, that of 1918 being 137,686 less than that of 1917. 



