57 



ARRANGEMENT OF THE COLLECTIONS 



December 22d, 1877. 



THE BUILDING. 



The building qow completed is one section of a plan that can be extended 

 until it occupies the entire area of Manhattan Square, which contains 18^ acres. 

 A photographic copy of the ground plan is displayed on the right hand side 

 entrance, showing that marginal park-like areas border the structure upon the 

 outside, and within are four open courts; also a map indicating the relative 

 position of the square to the Central Park, and the approaches proposed, in 

 order to make it accessible from the region of the Lake. 



This building has been erected by the City, and the collections displayed are 

 purchased by private subscriptions, and are the property of the Museum. 



Each hall is 170 feet long by 60 wide, inside the walls. The lowest story is 

 18 feet high ; the second, or principal story, including the gallery, is 30 feet; the 

 upper story 22 feet, and the mansard story 16 feet in height. 



On the left hand side of the entrance are plans of the new Museum of Nat- 

 ural History, now in process of erection by Her Majesty's Government at South 

 Kensington, London, and beneath it a plan of the British Museum, the red line 

 indicating the boundary of our square on the same scale. 



COLLECTIONS EXHIBITED IN THE LOWER STORY. 



The desk cases ranged through the middle of the lower hall are filled with the 

 Jay collection of Shells, presented by Miss C. L. Wolfe, as a memorial of her 

 father, the first President of the Museum. Passing to the northern end of the 

 room, we come to a group mounted by Prof. Wahd, of Rochester, consisting of 

 a Camel from Armenia, a Moose from Nova Scotia, and a Wapiti from the Rocky 

 Mountains. 



