/TA'/'O.s'AN OF Mr SHIMS 1 1 



'l1uM-(> arc at pri^scnt al)()iil '.>,')()() Mcinlx'i's. Annual Mcinhci-s coii- 



tril)ut(' 810 a year for the support of tlic Museum; Lif(3 



em ers ip \i(>nil)(>,-s make a sinjilc contribution of ^^lOO. McinlxT- 



sliij) fees are of i;reat ser\ice in })r()ni()t in«i; tlic <;ro\vtli of the institution. 



In tlie last edition of the Century Dictionary a nuiseuni is defined as: 



"A collection of natural objects, or of those made or used by man, 



l)lace(l \vlu>re they may be seen, preserved and studied. 



em ion o X(»ith(M- the objects themselves, nor the place where they 

 a Museum '' . ' i • i r 



are shown constitutes a museum; this results trom the 



coml)ination of objects, place and purpose, display being an essential 



feature. The objects, or specimens, may be shown for <»;eneral 



purposes only, or for the illustration of some subject or idea, 



the tendency of modern museums, being by the display of objects and 



the manner in which they are arranged and labeled to illustrate some 



fact in nature or in the history of mankind." 



And E. Ray Lankester has very clearly stated that: 



'^The purposes of a great national museum of natural history are (1) 



To procure by its own explorers or by the voluntary 



urposes o assistance of independent naturalists the actual specimens 

 Museums . ^ • i i 



upon which accurate knowledge of the animals, plants, 



and minerals of the earth's surface, and more especially of the national 

 territory, is based; to preserve and arrange these collections for study b}- 

 all expert naturalists, and to facilitate, directly or indirectly, the publica- 

 tion (in the form of catalogues or monographs) of the knowledge so ob- 

 tained — with a view to its utilization, not only in the progress of science, 

 but in the service of the State. (2) To exhibit in the best possible way 

 for the edification of the pubhc, at whose charges these collections are 

 made and maintained, such specimens as are fitted for exposure in 

 pubhc galleries, with a view to the intelhgent and Avilling participation 

 of the people in the maintenance of the Museum." 



The Museum not only maintains exhibits "for the edification of 



the pubhc," but supplements the educational work 

 p . performed by these and their accompanying labels, by 



Carried Out lectures and publications of a popular nature. A course 



of evening lectures is given every Spring and Fall for the 



, ^ Members, to which admission is to be had bv ticket; 



Lectures . . . ^ . . 



another series of lectures, free to the public, is given in 



conjunction with the Board of Education on Tuesday and Saturday 



evenings. Still another series, under the direction of the Museum's, 



Department of Pubhc Education, is given for the children in the Pubhc 



Schools, and there are special lectures for the blind provided for by^ the 



Thorne Memorial Fund. The educational work of the Museum is 



carried still farther by means of its circulating collections for illus- 



