6 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



5 Report on the section of Zoology 



6 Report on the section of Archeology 



7 Publications 



8 Staff of the Science Division 



9 Accessions to the collections 



10 New entries on the general record of localities of American 

 paleozoic fossils 



1 1 Appendixes (to be included in subsequent volumes) ; all the 

 scientific publications of the year. 



I 



CONDITION OF THE SCIENTIFIC COLLECTIONS CONSTI- 

 TUTING THE STATE MUSEUM 



The past year has been one of more than usual activity in the 

 prosecution of investigations both in field and office and the acqui- 

 sitions made to the State Museum have been extensive in various 

 departments. These additions are enumerated in detail in a 

 subsequent chapter. It has not been the usual practice in the 

 Museum to undertake the acquisition of general scientific materials 

 from outside the political boundaries of the State except in so far 

 as such material serves to explicate problems which concern this 

 State. There are some extensive representations in the collections 

 of valuable material from various parts of the world but the first 

 purpose and chief function of this Museum is to maintain a rep- 

 resentation of the natural resources of the State which shall be as 

 complete as possible. The reports of the Geologist, the Botanist 

 and the Entomologist indicate what considerable progress is yearly 

 made toward amplification of these State collections. In scientific 

 researches, however, we should soon suffer from provincialism and 

 intellectual strabismus if all our endeavors were to be focused on 

 what is to be found within the State boundaries. The broader 

 problems arising in any one of the various fields of science can not 

 be solved by looking no further than the boundary walls of the 

 State and throughout the history of the institution the scope of its 

 researches has never been thus restricted. Hence apart from the 

 extensive collections made within the State in each department of 

 science, a notable amount of valuable material comes to the Museum 

 each year from outside the State boundaries, and of special moment 



