MUSEUM OP COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Apr. 



[A.] 



RETORT OF THE DIRECTOR OE THE MUSEUM. 



Owing to the insufficiency of our means, the working force 

 of the Museum had been reduced to a minimum during the 

 past two or three years, and the progress of the institution 

 would have suffered greatly, had it not been for the liberality 

 with which Mr. Nathaniel Thayer fitted out the Brazilian Expe- 

 dition. For while the collections accumulated in former years 

 were allowed to remain in the condition to which they had been 

 brought before the close of 1861, new treasures were added by 

 the exploration of extensive parts of Brazil, and especially of 

 the Valley of the Amazons. These large collections, if properly 

 exhibited, would unquestionably add much to the interest felt 

 by the public at large in the progress of the Museum, and con- 

 tribute to the increase of its possessions by a considerate 

 exchange and distribution of its duplicates. But to undertake 

 such an arrangement, it was indispensable to increase the num- 

 ber of the regular workers connected with the Museum. The 

 liberal grant of $1 0,000 by the Legislature last spring, and 

 the relief obtained from Congress by the remittance of excise 

 duty on alcohol used for scientific purposes, have infused new 

 life into our Institution. If these facilities could be continued 

 until all the collections have been fully assorted and identified, 

 it would require but a short time properly to exhibit the whole 

 for purposes of general inspection and special study as soon as 

 our building could be enlarged. There are really two very 

 distinct objects to be kept in view in organizing a great Museum 

 — the public exhibition and the scientific use of the specimens. 

 While we have already made extraordinary progress in securing 

 the necessary materials for this double end, it must be confessed 

 that we are sadly behindhand in gratifying the just claims of 

 the community to enjoy the benefit of these immense accumu- 



