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CITY LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 



collection there are now more than 13,000 specimens. Some of the 

 rarer plants in these collections have been contributed by Dr. 

 Walter H. Chapin. 



To the collection of birds, one of the now famous passenger 

 pigeons has been added. This specimen, which with many other 

 species was given by Mr. Ralph Norman Fowler of this city, was 

 taken in Iowa by Mr. Fowler's father in 1870 when flocks of hun- 

 dreds of these now extinct birds were everywhere seen. 



This steady flow of additions to the collections means for classes, 

 their teachers, members of societies, and the public in general, in- 

 creased advantages that the museum can supply, providing such 

 material is made systematically available. It becomes increasingly 

 difficult, however, for the present hmited staff to meet the daily de- 

 mands, arrange for courses of instruction, and still give attention 

 to departmental readjustment. Nevertheless some satisfying pro- 

 gress along this line has been made. The department of fibers, 

 woods, and seeds has been completely rearranged and partly re- 

 labelled. The same has been accomplished with the collection of 

 mollusks, and instructive industrial exhibits now form part of the 

 regular collection. 



The museum has lost a valued friend in the death of Gurdon 

 Bill. He was a generous subscriber to the building fund and gave 

 the many groups showing birds in their natural habitats, which 

 form one of the chief attractions of the collection and are a constant 

 stimulus to nature study. He also gave the large groups showing 

 the habitat of the muskrat and fox, and his frequent gifts of flower- 

 ing plants did much to brighten the museum building. It is not 

 strange that the museum appealed to one for whom all nature was 

 ever a miracle. 



The Staff 



Since its beginning the museum has had faithful workers con- 

 tributing unselfishly to its development. None of these has given 

 more devoted and loyal service than that rendered by Frank Day 

 Bishop whose death October 16th, 1915, took from the museum an 

 assistant of unusual ability and education, and a young man to 

 whom those associated with him were deeply attached. His pres- 

 ence and help in the institution will long be missed. 



Miss Dell G. Rogers, who has recently become assistant curator, 

 is a graduate of Vassar college. Her college training, supplemented 

 by a special course at the Marine Biological laboratory, and ex- 



