1876.] 247 [Bouv4. 



One of the most important events in the history of the Society, 

 and one which led directly to its great development, was the interest 

 excited in the mind of our great benefactor, Dr. Wm. J. Walker, in 

 our work, mainly through the interest he first felt in Dr. Jeffries 

 Wyman, whom he much loved and respected. When moved to take 

 some action, he asked Dr. Wyman to bring some business man of 

 the Society to him, and I was introduced as such, and as Treasurer. 

 From that time Dr. Wyman and myself were frequently called in 

 consultation with Dr. Walker, sometimes at Newport, sometimes in 

 Boston or Cambridge, the result of all being the great donations 

 which enabled us to build this Museum, and the magnificent endow- 

 ment bequeathed to us, by which we have chiefly been able to do 

 what we have since done as a Society to advance science and to fur*- 

 ther its culture in the community. Of course the Society had itself 

 great need of experience in order to do its work in the best manner, 

 and for want of this many mistakes were unavoidably made, greatly 

 to our cost afterwards. I shall refer to but two, and to these only 

 beeause of their great subsequent effects. One relates to the con- 

 struction of our new building, the other to the arrangement of our 

 collections. The first was in permitting the making of eases in all 

 our principal rooms of a very defective character, costing many 

 thousands of dollars, which we have recently been obliged to rebuild 

 at nearly as much more cost in order to prevent the destruction of 

 our collections, and the other was the placing of the collections of 

 the several departments without regard to their relations with each 

 other, from a lack of proper appreciation of the importance of ar- 

 ranging them in natural sequence, this being now recognized as of 

 very great service from an educational point of view. I think I may 

 truly say that in taking possession of our new apartments, the officers 

 of the several departments only thought of securing good accommo- 

 dations for the display of the- particular collection' of each without at 

 all considering the relation which it might have to others adjoining. 

 The result was, that however scientifically arranged may have been 

 each department, there was no general arrangement of the whole. 

 To Prof. Hyatt was due the suggestion of the importance of this, first 

 expressed in his proposed plan of organization which was adopted 

 for the guidance of the officers of the Society by a vote of the Coun- 

 cil in July, 1870. He therein expressed his view in the following 

 language: "The Museum of this Society is intended especially for 

 the instruction of teachers, general students, and the public;, there- 



