EXPLANATORY NOTICE 



This Guide, the first ever published of the Museum, 

 has been very hastily prepared, partly to meet the 

 needs of visitors to the Exposition , but especially in 

 commemoration of the celebration of the semi-cen- 

 tennial of the Museum. Its existence is due to several 

 circumstances. The establishment of the chair of 

 Biology and Geology in the College in 1900 made 

 new demands, and opened up new opportunities for 

 the Museum. Examination revealed the fact that 

 the collections were exceedingly rich in material for 

 illustrating the class work in those subjects, but in 

 such a condition as to be hardly available. To make 

 this matter of use it was found that an almost com- 

 plete rearrangement of the Museum would be neces- 

 sary. Believing that such a rearrangement would not 

 only meet the needs of the College classes, but from an 

 educational standpoint greatly enhance the value of the 

 collections to the visiting public, as well as put the 

 Museum in line with the methods of the leading 

 museums of the world, the desired rearrangement 

 was begun in October, 1901. The lack of unit 

 cases, or of any elasticity in the shelving, and in 



