BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES 187 



The collections include Indian implements ; household articles of pio- 

 neers; portraits and views of local interest; war relics; domestic articles 

 from Hawaii, the Philippines, Cuba, Alaska, etc.; casts of Egyptian 

 and Assyrian tablets; coins and medals. The library comprises 30,000 

 volumes of a historical nature and is open free to the public, together 

 with the museum, on week-days from 10 to 5 and on Sundays from 2 

 to 5. The society occupies a building erected in 1900 at a cost of 

 $200,000 defrayed jointly by the state, the city, and the society. It 

 receives a maintenance appropriation from the city but this is not 

 available for increase of the museum. 14 volumes of publications 

 have been issued, but these are not directly related to the museum. 



BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 



Staff. Superintendent, Henry R. Howland; Lecturer, Carlos 

 E. Cummings; Custodian of museum, William L. Bryant; 1 stenogra- 

 pher, 1 janitor, and 1 caretaker. 



Anthropology. Archeology, native, 6ooo±, foreign, 3oo±; 

 Ethnology, native, 5oo±. foreign, iooo±. Of special interest are the 

 local collections illustrating the characteristics of each important 

 village site in Erie County, New York, and a collection of 30c specimens 

 of pottery from Chiriqui, Central America. 



Botany. Cryptogamic and phanerogamic herbaria, 25,ooo±. 



Commerce and Industry. Several collections illustrating the 

 manufacture of marketable goods from natural products, as iron, steel, 

 copper, pearl, mineral dyes, etc. 



Geology. Minerals, 3000+ on exhibition and a large number in 

 storage; Rocks, 2500^ on exhibition and many in storage. Special 

 mention may be made of the Wadsworth collection of minerals, 

 mostly from European localities and especially rich in fine groups of 

 fluorite, calcite, quartz, etc. One room is devoted to the geology of 

 Buffalo and vicinity. 



Paleontology. There are on exhibition io,ooo± invertebrate, 

 vertebrate and plant fossils, with a large number in storage and many 

 types and figured specimens. The collection of crustaceans from the 

 Waterlime group in the vicinity of Buffalo is especially important and 

 includes some 80 varieties and over 250 specimens of Pterygotus, 

 Eurypterus, and Ceratiocaris. 



Zoology. Shells, 12,900; Insects, 6ooo±; Other invertebrates, 

 378; Fishes, 242; Reptiles, 123; Birds, noo±; Mammals, 75; Bird 

 eggs, 7001b; Osteology, ^. 10 large groups are exhibited in natural 

 surroundings; especially noteworthy are those of the American bison 



