8 



at once apparent that it is a mere waste of time and money for 

 us to continue accumulations of collections which will most 

 certainly be duplicated at Washington or New York ; and that, 

 beyond a very limited appeal to the public in the collections 

 placed on exhibition, we should expend our resources only in 

 the direction of fostering such original work as may most effi- 

 ciently be conducted by the Professors holding endowed chairs 

 in our University. This can be best accomplished by a com- 

 paratively small museum staff, provided the assistants necessary 

 for laboratory instruction are supplied to the teachers, and they 

 find time from their teaching to use the materials of this insti- 

 tution as far as it is available. The function of a museum is 

 without doubt to use its resources in the purchase and care of 

 special collections, made by their owners at the cost of a great 

 expenditure of time and money. Some of these collections, 

 illustrating the past history of a district, frequently represent 

 the work of a whole lifetime devoted by some specialist to a 

 limited field, in which his collections have been brought to a 

 great state of perfection ; and in such collections the Museum 

 is very rich in certain directions. I would name only the Dyer, 

 Taylor, Gebhard, Day, and Walcott collections, among the 

 American; and the Bronn, Shary, Konick, and Schultz, for the 

 other side. The owners of such collections are anxious that 

 all their work should not be scattered to the winds, and that 

 the materials they have brought together should be kept as 

 historical documents. 



In the care of geological and palaeontological collections the 

 difficulties of preserving them are inconsiderable, the cost is 

 not excessive, and there are not many troublesome questions 

 likely to arise beyond that of space. When, however, we come 

 to zoological materials, the difficulties are great. As far as the 

 collections placed on exhibition are concerned, their deteriora- 

 tion is a mere question of time. The director of any museum 

 must constantly replace his Birds and Mammals, renew the 

 alcohol of his Fishes, Reptiles, and alcoholic Invertebrates, and 

 renew all his Insects after a while. If the number of rooms 

 devoted to the public is not too large, the expense seems 

 warranted, if we are to judge of the interest taken as shown 

 by the constantly increasing number of visitors on week-days 

 as well as Sundavs. It is when we come to the collections of a 



