8 



the University Museum with the Peabody Museum, forming the 

 South Wing of the structure. 



" There is, however, one point in the organization of the Museum 

 to which I should like to call attention. Nearly two thirds of 

 the North Wing, the part of our structure called the Museum of 

 Comparative Zoology, is devoted to the storage of our collec- 

 tions intended for study and not for exhibition. I can safely sa}^ 

 that there is no Museum in which the system of storage of both 

 dry and alcoholic specimens is so convenient for access as that 

 of the Museum collection. Special rooms are devoted to special 

 subjects, and they are so arranged that a number of specialists 

 could work at the same time on any part of the collections with- 

 out inconvenience. For the alcoholic collections two rooms, 

 30 by 40 feet, are reserved in the basement for such use. In the 

 rooms containing the dry collection (both recent and fossil) the 

 space adjoining the windows has been equipped with tables, so 

 that a large space is everywhere left, ample for the needs of 

 specialists interested in any part of our collection. This space 

 is an equivalent of 8 by 40 feet in each of the nineteen rooms in 

 which the collections are stored. It is this part of the Museum 

 which I should like to make more available to students and 

 specialists. But without a larger staff to oversee the rooms while 

 they may be occupied, it is impossible to grant the unrestricted 

 use of our collections to those who might avail themselves of the 

 facilities we are able to give for study. 



" The practice of sending collections to specialists for study is 

 ruinous to the specimens ; each invoice involves considerable 

 work on the part of the Assistants, and the danger of misplacing 

 labels during the packing and unpacking is very considerable. 

 So that in the future we shall be obliged, on the ground of safety 

 for our collections, to refuse to send specimens out of the build- 

 ing, and invite the specialists to avail themselves of our facilities 

 on the spot. The staff of the Museum is somewhat crippled at 

 present, there being no Assistant in charge of the Invertebrates. 

 As this collection can, however, be otherwise cared for, it has 

 been decided by the Museum Faculty not to fill this place until 

 the Museum is out of debt. I would also call attention to the 

 necessity of having a regular Assistant for the care of our Verte- 

 brate Fossil Collections. These are already quite extensive, and 

 the collections we are likely to receive in the future from the 



