SECOND REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 1905 



9 



E Flint Granite Co., Cemetery station. Here we have stored 

 some very large slabs of fossils having a total weight of upwards 

 of 20 tons. 



These scientific collections of the State are beyond price. They 

 have been brought together during a period of 70 years of 

 official scientific activity. In very large degree they can not be 

 duplicated. In no small part they are elsewhere unequaled. The 

 New York State Museum is one of the oldest Jpublic scientific 

 museums of America and it is the largest of the scientific collections 

 belonging to any State in the Union. With its historic record, 

 its high repute and its invaluable scientific property it must fail 

 to serve the people and public education so long as its collections 

 remain in their present condition. 



Access to the collections is practically impossible and a definite 

 educational advantage is thus denied to the people. It should 

 be no purpose of this venerable institution to compete with the 

 various general scientific museums through the land which are 

 springing up like mushrooms in a night with the help of unlimited 

 private wealth but the time is ripe for the friends of pure and 

 practical natural science in New York to take an active interest 

 in relieving the present deplorable condition of the State's scien- 

 tific collections. The financial value of these collections and their 

 worth to New York science is too great to excuse the existing 

 situation. - A modern fully equipped museum building with at- 

 tendant offices is now an imperative need if this institution is to 

 maintain its dignity and usefulness. 



In spite of the conditions mentioned above, the work of acquisi- 

 tion and of display of these collections is carried on with the time 

 in mind when the opportunity for adequate equipment arrives. 

 Elsewhere attention will be specifically directed to examples of 

 the methods in practice and the quality of additions made in 

 various departments of scientific work, but it may be here stated 

 that in the preparation and mounting of specimens the most ap- 

 proved methods are being followed and the material, even though 

 it is now possible to exhibit only some of the most striking examples 

 of such work, is thus being placed in readiness for proper instal- 

 ment whenever suitable quarters are secured. 



These efforts have served to demonstrate the entire ability of 

 the scientific staff to meet the needs and excite the interest of the 

 public through effective methods 0/ display. 



