COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Apr. 



[A.] 

 KEPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE TRUSTEES 



ON THE 



MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY, 



For the Year 1873. 



Early in 1873 it became apparent that the Museum could 

 no longer be carried on with the means at the disposal of 

 the Curator; repeated assistance from the State and from 

 private sources kept the institution up to a standard of activ- 

 ity far beyond its own regular resources. As the time drew 

 near when retrenchment seemed inevitable, Professor Agassiz 

 made an appeal to the legislature for support, and with the 

 generosity which has always characterized their action towards 

 an institution in which the State of Massachusetts has so 

 great an interest, the legislature appropriated $25,000, on 

 condition that a similar sum should be contributed by the 

 friends of the institution towards its support. This sum was 

 at once subscribed by friends of the Museum, and the appro- 

 priation of the State secured. Soon after this a further sum 

 of $100,000 was presented to the Museum by Mr. Quiucy A. 

 Shaw. These sums gave Professor Agassiz the means to re- 

 organize the Museum on a very extensive scale. Additional 

 assistants were employed, collections were purchased in every 

 direction, and a large outlay made to place in safety the valu- 

 able alcoholic collections stored in the cellar of the Museum 

 building. True to his policy of always using his present 

 means as a lever for further improvement, nothing was laid up 

 for the future, and by the first of April next the Museum will 

 have to depend entirely upon its invested funds for its re- 



