10 



The West American Scientist. 



feature; while another economic feat- 

 ure is the collection of native grasses 

 and other economic plants. 



It is our policy to first develop as 

 fully as possible the local resources, 

 gradually widening out as our means 

 and experience will justify. Great 

 things require time, and not in one 

 generation may we hope to accom- 

 plish what it has taken ages for 

 others to do. 



THE BOTANIC GARDEN. 



A very important feature, which 

 we hope soon to see established, is a 

 botanic garden and experimental 

 grounds in connection with the mu- 

 seum. This will prove a most valu- 

 able adjunct to our work, and the 

 introduction and distribution of seeds 

 and plants will doubtless render this 

 a popular attraction. 



THE LIBRARY. 



West America is virtually without 

 any great library of science. Our 

 students are now compelled, in their 

 prosecutions of original investiga- 

 tions, to consult eastern, and in many 

 cases, European libraries, before 

 they can safely present to the world 

 the results of their studies, without 

 danger of duplication and needless 

 confusion. What an artizan's tools 

 are to a workman, are books to the 

 naturalist. Without them he is 

 centuries behind his age. Can we 

 hope to supply this vacancy in West 

 America ? 



A feature too often overlooked, 

 one that should be prominent in 

 every library, is the preservation of 

 local history. No library is nearly 

 complete without complete files of 

 all the newspapers, magazines, post- 

 ers and circulars as it is possible to 

 secure especially those which may at 

 some time in the future throw light on 

 the past. Every book or other pub- 

 lication, containing even the slight- 

 est reference to the region, should be 

 preserved, and especially all govern- 

 ment reports and scientific papers — 

 often tugitive essays in foreign 

 papers or magazines or in the pro- 

 ceedings of some society far removed. 

 These papers are often indispensable 

 to the historical or biological student, 



to enable him to avoid error, incom- 

 pleteness and injustice to others, who, 

 unknown to him, are engaged in the 

 same lines of thought. 



IN CONCLUSION. 



It is hoped that these few lines 

 may interest many in our work. 

 The display collections are being ar- 

 ranged and will in due time be avail- 

 able to the public at Stough Hall, 

 San Diego College of Letters, Pacific 

 Beach, Calif., where friends will al- 

 ways be welcome. Any one who 

 so desires can aid us in the vast work 

 before us. No contribution, however 

 small, to either the museum or library 

 but that will be of value. 



It is our policy to conduct the 

 museum as" an independent institu- 

 tion. Yet, the college and museum 

 may be of mutual assistance. The 

 little collections, originally displayed 

 on a tea plate, have grown to too 

 large proportions for one pair of 

 hands. Their usefulness will be in- 

 creased by the two institutes work- 

 ing harmoniously together. The 

 work calls for many hands and 

 greater means to render the greatest 

 results, in benefits to mankind, at- 

 tainable. C. R. Orcutt. 



Miss Hofl and Miss Lyons have 

 again distinguished^ themselves in 

 Prof. Hill's musical contest. 



An old Quaker lady tells in her 

 quaint way this story of Emerson: 

 "Thee knows that when Mr. Emer- 

 son was abroad he went to Egypt, 

 and while there he stood one morn- 

 ing in front of the Sphinx and gazed 

 long and earnestly at the silent fig- 

 ure. There they stood, Emerson 

 gazing at the Sphinx and the Sphinx 

 at Emerson. The silence was heavy. 

 Suddenly the lips of the stone figure 

 trembled, and the mystic words, 

 'You're another!' fell from them." 



Town Topics speaks of the sus- 

 pension of a comic paper as "another 

 burst of mirth." 



The sheriff is a^reading man; he 

 will take a paper when nobody else 

 will. 



