Lectures to School Children. — Regular courses of 

 lectures to school children have been given during the year. 

 The new feature of the spring course was the introduction of 

 moving picture films which added much to the interest of the 

 children. For the most part these lectures were delivered by 

 members of the Museum staff, but two very interesting talks 

 on African travel were given by Carl E. Akeley, and one indus- 

 trial lecture was given by Robert G. Weyh. We desire to 

 acknowledge with thanks the services of these gentlemen. We 

 also wish to express our thanks to the Canadian Pacific Rail- 

 way Co., The Union Pacific Railroad Co., the Department of 

 Street Cleaning of the City of New York, and the Shredded 

 Wheat Co., for their courtesy in generously allowing us to use 

 their lantern slides and moving picture films in our lectures on 

 industries. 



The experiences of the past two years indicated the desir- 

 ability of a change in the schedule of lectures. In the past, 

 the regular course consisted of nine lectures, each of which 

 was given twice. In the fall series of this year, the eighteen 

 lectures were divided into groups of six and not repeated. 

 The first group was on American history and geography and 

 was given on Mondays; the second was devoted to the 

 geography of the world and occurred on Wednesdays; the 

 Friday series treated of great American industries. Through 

 consultation with teachers, these lectures were more closely 

 correlated with the regular class-room work in these subjects. 

 An increase in the attendance and many favorable comments 

 from the teachers indicated the advisability of the change. 

 In connection with this course and in cooperation with the 

 department, the New York Public Library prepared and 

 issued lists of books for the use of children. These lists were 

 distributed at the Museum and the children were informed 

 that they would find the books referred to in the children's 

 libraries. The arrangements for these lectures were entrusted 

 to Mrs. Roesler and Miss Wilds, and success is due in no 

 small degree to their efficient work. 



The attendance at the spring course was 15,328; at the 

 fall course, 16,601, a total of 31,929. This is 9,132 more than 

 attended similar lectures in 191 1. Many of the lectures were 



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