THE LEWIS BROOKS MUSEUM. 6 



she could not reap the full benefit of his generous gift. To 

 fully utilize the large collections contained in the new Mu- 

 seum, she needed a chair of Natural History, which should 

 be occupied solely with the teaching of that subject, and 

 this she did not possess. 



At this juncture Mr. W. W. Corcoran, of Washington, 

 D. O.'j came to the relief of the University by a most libe- 

 ral and judicious gift. He donated to her the sum of 

 $50,000; for the purpose of endowing a professorship of 

 Natural History. This was all the more highly appreciated, 

 as this gentleman had already proved himself to be a gene- 

 rous and disinterested friend of the institution, by having 

 made it most liberal gifts on several occasions. 



The gift of Mr. Corcoran enabled the Board of Visitors 

 to complete the Department of Natural History by the estab- 

 lishment of a chair of Geology and Natural History, which 

 was subsequently filled by the election of Prof. Wm. M- 

 Fontaine. 



THE LEWIS BROOKS MUSEUM. 



The collections of the Museum were made by Professor 

 Henry A. Ward, of Rochester, N. Y., who is eminently 

 fitted for this duty, since he is both an experienced teacher 

 of Natural History, and has unsurpassed facilities for the 

 collection of Natural History objects. It must be borne in 

 mind that the chief object had in view in the making of the 

 collections was their use as teaching instruments. It is 

 easy to see that large, attractive and costly collections may 

 be made which would have little value in illustrating the 

 principles of science. This has been studiously avoided in 

 making the collections for the Lewis Brooks Museum, and 

 in consequence of this, it is hardly surpassed any where as 

 an instrument for the illustration of Natural History. The 

 specimens are both selected and arranged for the illustra- 

 tion in their proper order of the different portions of the 

 various branches of Natural History. For want of such 



