90 Report of the President 



clerical work involved may be gained from the fact that the 

 entries for the Pension Fund occupy more space in the cash 

 book than is required for the entire City Maintenance Account. 



To expedite the work of the Museum, a Bursar's Account 

 is maintained at a local bank. This is merely a temporary 

 working fund, and, since all expenditures in this account are 

 eventually embodied in other accounts, no detailed record of 

 the individual transactions is kept. 



The Audit Company of New York, under the direction of 

 the Auditing Committee of the Trustees, has made the usual 

 semiannual examination of all books and vouchers of these 

 various accounts. 



The details of the receipts and disbursements will be found 

 in the Treasurer's Report, pages 93 to 117, inclusive. 



As the name implies, the moneys received from the City 



for maintenance are recorded in the City Maintenance Account. 



~. _, . The Trustees first pay all bills contracted in 



City Mainte- , . . , , 



this account and then submit the receipted 

 nance Account , , _. r . , 



vouchers to the City for reimbursement. In 



191 3, the City for the first time appropriated for maintenance 

 $200,000, the maximum amount permitted under existing laws. 

 The City authorities very wisely left the apportionment of this 

 sum to the Trustees, thereby enabling the Museum to make 

 the most effective use of it. Generous as this appropriation 

 may seem, it is insufficient to meet the maintenance expenses 

 of an institution as large as the American Museum of Natural 

 History. In 1913 the total cost of maintenance, as mainte- 

 nance is defined in the Laws of 1905, was $297,000, or a 

 sum of $97,000 greater than the City's appropriation. This 

 deficit the Trustees have met out of their own funds, which 

 otherwise would be devoted to the enrichment of the 

 collections. 



The funds of the General Account are the mainstay of the 



scientific and educational work of the institution, and the sys- 



a , tematic growth and development of the 



_ , . Museum are dependent upon them. The 



General Account . ^ , . , ., , . 



interest on invested funds, the fees from 



Members and the personal contributions of Trustees are the 



chief sources of income. In 191 3 the total net receipts were 



