Museum of Natural History* 



Report of the Curator* 



To the Directors and Memhers of the City Library Association : 



The tenth annual report of the Museum of Natural History is hereby 

 respectfully submitted. 



In this review of the past year your attention is called to the quiet but 

 steady progress made in the organization of the museum for more efficient 

 service, to the generosity of the friends of the institution as shown by val- 

 uable gifts, and to the increase in the use of the collections by the people. 

 Another fact of importance is the rapidly narrowing margin of space avail- 

 able for additional cases and new collections. Already the demands for 

 floor room have made necessary some interference with the proper group- 

 ing and unity of the museum material. 



Accessions. 



The latter consideration naturally suggests the recent additions to the 

 various departments. A most interesting illustration of the life and in- 

 dustry of the valley Indians is made by the Wilbraham relics of the stone 

 age. They consist of a large number of implements and bowls discovered 

 in a steatite quarry. Through the generosity of Mr. Nathan D. Bill, funds 

 were provided for the work of excavation. Prof. A. L. Dakin conducted 

 the investigation with great care and industry. The museum has now an 

 unusually complete display of the methods of manufacture employed by 

 the early Indian tribes. This collection is now arranged so as to be avail- 

 able for study. It is carefully labeled and mounted, and illustrated with 

 photographs and charts of the quarry site. Space has been assigned in 

 the smaller room on the second floor of the museum. 



A part of the Wilbraham relics has been exchanged for Indian pottery 

 of Peru, the Cherokee country, Missouri, Arizona, and New Mexico, from 

 the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Exchanges have 

 also been made through Dr. Edward Hitchcock with the Gilbert Museum of 

 Amherst College. From this institution, axes, celts, arrow points, and 

 potsherds of the Connecticut valley were obtained. 



In geology and mineralogy, the collections have been enriched by sev- 

 eral notable gifts. Among these mention should be made of a fossil palm 



