PURPOSES OF MUSEUMS 11 



The interest of the Endowment Fund, which includes the magnificent 

 bequest of Mrs. Jesup, may be used for additions to the collections, 

 research, and for publication. It can not be used for the care or repair 

 of the building, construction of cases or other maintenance work, that 

 is properly the province of the City to provide for. 



The Membership Fund, derived from the subscriptions of Members, 

 may be devoted to any purpose and is of particular importance in the 

 educational work of the Museum. 



Voluntary contributions may be used for general purposes or for such 

 special object as the donor may designate; some of the most valuable and 

 important collections have been obtained by such gifts. 



There are at present about 3.700 ^Members. Annual Members con- 



,, , , . tribute $10 a vear for the support of the Museum; Life 

 Membership 



^lembers make a single contrilnition of $100. Member- 

 ship fees are of great service in promoting the growth of the institution. 

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

 "A collection of natural ol)jects, or of those made or used by man, 

 ]ilaced where they may be seen, preserved and studied. 



e 1 ion o Xeither the obiects themselves nor the place where they 

 a Museiun •". , • i r i 



are shown constitutes a museum : this results irom the com- 

 bination of objects, place and purpose, ilisplay being an essential feature. 

 The objects, or specimens, may l)e shown for general purposes only, or for 

 the illustration of some subject or idea, the tendency of modem museimis, 

 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 Lanke-ster has very clearly stated that: 



"The purposes of a great national museum of natural liistory are: 



(1) To procure by its own explorers or by the voluntary 



urp e o assistance of indei:)endent naturalists the actual specimens 

 Museums ' • 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 



by all expert naturalists, and to facilitate, directly or indirectly, the 



publication (in the form of catalogues or monographs) of the knowledge 



so obtained — 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 public, at whose charges these 



collections are made and maintained, such specimens as are fitted for 



exposure in public galleries, with a view to the intelligent and willing 



participation of the people in the maintenance of the Museum." 



