students, as well as those of the original investigator, and giving 

 them ample opportunity to publish their theses or researches. 

 The Museum has not, however, limited its usefulness to being 

 a simple educational University Museum ; it has become, to a 

 certain extent, a public institution, intended for a larger circle.* 

 Finally, it has not neglected the interests of specialists, and 

 has accumulated extensive collections, conveniently stored, and 

 easily accessible to all who are able to make a proper use of this 

 material. These collections are in charge of a limited num- 

 ber of assistants, whose time is not wholly occupied by their 

 administrative duties. 



The publications of the Museum, in the shape of its eleven 

 volumes of Bulletins and thirteen of Memoirs, give, with 

 the addition of the Monographs thus far issued by workers at 

 the Museum, a fair idea of the field covered by its various de- 

 partments. It was but natural that during my administration 

 special stress should have been laid on the Zoological Depart- 

 ment, but it has been my aim not to allow the other depart- 

 ments to lag too far behind. Each branch should in its turn be 

 properly developed, and the plan of our buildings is fortunately 

 such, that, as fast as any department outgrows its quarters, 

 a new section of the building may be added for its reception. 

 There is no reason why, with the increase of the Geological, 

 Anatomical, Geographical, or other Department of the Museum, 

 suitable accommodations and room for expansion should not be 

 provided. 



The concentration of all the departments of Natural History 

 within a single square will in the future be the natural result of 

 the present plans. It will facilitate greatly the work of the 

 different departments, prevent needless duplications, and in- 

 crease the efficiency and economy by a central management. 



The Library has grown from a few hundred volumes to an 

 important collection of biological works, and it is constantly in- 

 creased by its exchanges, purchases, and donations ; it now 

 numbers over 17,500 volumes, exclusive of pamphlets and of 

 the Whitney Library. 



In 1860 the space covered by the first section of the building 

 erected was eighty by sixty feet, and it contained in all sixteen 



* The number of visitors is constantly increasing, and on Sundays the building 

 is crowded. 



