Annual Report.] 214 [May 3, 



tomology, teach us the necessity of securing as early as possi- 

 ble the services of qualified assistants in all departments. 

 Several sections of this Museum, if properly attended to, 

 would require every year as much labor as has been gratui- 

 tously expended during the past twelve months upon the 

 Osteological collection alone. 



The remainder of this report is compiled from the special 

 reports of the Secretary and Librarian and the Chairmen of 

 the various Committees on the Museum. 



LECTURES. 



Through the liberality of the Trustees of the Lowell In 

 stitute, seven courses of free lectures have been given by 

 the Society. The first course of six lectures, by Rev. John 

 L. Russell, on Cryptogamic Botany, was attended by an 

 average of eighty-five persons ; the second course of two lec- 

 tures, by Prof. J. S. Newberry, on the Canons of the Colorado 

 and Ancient Civilization of America, by an average of two 

 hundred and eighty-seven persons ; the third course of six 

 lectures, by Thomas Dwight, Jr., M. D., on the Comparative 

 Anatomy of Mammalia, by an average of sixty-one persons ; 

 the fourth course of four lectures, by Dr. P. P. Carpenter, on 

 a general sketch of Mollusca, by an average of sixty-one per- 

 sons ; the fifth course of two lectures, by Rev. R. C. Waters- 

 ton, on the Journey across the Continent, or some of the 

 remarkable features of California, by an average of three 

 hundred and thirteen persons ; the sixth course of twelve 

 lectures, by W. H. Mies, on the Principles of Geology, by an 

 average of two hundred and thirty-seven persons; the 

 seventh course of six lectures, by Rev. E. C. Bolles, on the 

 Revelations of the Microscope, by an average of two hun- 

 dred and seventy-nine persons. 



These averages indicate, generally, the difference in the 

 public mind between popular and strictly educational lectures, 

 but the extreme severity of the weather during the courses 



