1869.) SENATE—No. 60. 41 
an endless multiplicity of structures, a primal and all-pervading 
unity of design, — thus a Museum which shall stand as a monu- 
ment of all that is yet known of the living forms which have 
peopled our globe, on the one hand suggesting the true philoso- 
phy of nature, and on the other, teaching its history by a mani- 
fold variety of well-selected examples. 
' In closing this Report, I desire to say that in the little I have 
done, I have all along received kindly counsel and valuable 
suggestions from Professor Agassiz; and that I have been able 
in all points cordially to sympathize, and, as I trust, in some 
actively to co-operate with him in his various plans and efforts 
to advance the interests of the Museum. 

Report on the Collection of Fossil Remains in general, by N. 
_S. SHALER. 
u The assistant in Paleontology has to report a resumption of 
the work upon the collections under his charge, which had been 
interrupted by two years’ absence from duty in the Museum. 
During this time he has had the opportunity of visiting about 
fifty of the principal museums of Europe, of carefully examin- 
ing the various matters connected with their administration, 
and of obtaining much information which may in the future be 
made useful in the arrangement of our own collections. Al- 
though this systematic study of the great European collections 
resulted in the acquisition of many valuable details concerning 
the mechanical appliances for the care and arrangement of ma- 
terials, it afforded no results which could have an influence 
upon the general plan which should regulate the arrangement 
of the stores of a museum. So far as his observations extended 
he found no museum where any other purpose than a desire to 
produce a pleasing and convenient disposition of the specimens, 
was manifested in the general plan of arrangement. In the few 
cases where there was an evident intention of showing some of 
the more important general features connected with the distri- 
bution of life over the face of the globe or in the successive 
geological formations, the imperfection of the means has been 
too great to afford any great result. Among the fifty museums 
visited not one was found in a building especially designed for 
6 
