92 
Field  Columbian  Museum — '. 
Reports,  Vol.  i. 
prepared  and  sent  out  requesting  exchanges  of  particular  publica- 
tions. Responses  have  always  been  courteous  and  in  nearly  all 
instances  favorable,  so  that  the  reading  room  of  the  Library  is  now 
assured  of  a  permanent  and  valuable  series  of  current  periodicals, 
such  as  transactions,  memoirs,  journals,  proceedings,  etc.,  of  the 
principal  publishing  scientific  bodies  of  the  world. 
Library. — During  the  fiscal  year  there  have  been  added  to  the 
Library    687   bound  volumes  and   1,148  pamphlets  and  unbound 
volumes,  making  a  total  of   1,835  titles.     This  compares  very  fav- 
orably with  the  growth  of   the  Library  for  the  preceding  years, 
although  the  total  number  added  in  1894-95  was  2,411,  and  in  1893-94, 
the  opening  year  of  the  Library,  7,139,  but  both  these  years  saw  the 
acquisition  of  several  large  collections.     The  number  of  donations 
has  materially  increased;  attributable,  of  course,  to  the  rapidly  grow- 
ing exchange   list  of  the    Museum.     A   list  of    the  accessions  to 
the  Library  accompanies  this   report.    The  number  of  accessions 
would  indicate  the  present  size  of    the   Library  were  it  not  for 
the  fact  that  two  collections  of  engineering  and  railroad  literature 
which  were  loaned  to  the  Museum,  have  been  returned  to  their 
owners.     Subtracting  these  collections  from  the  total,  gives  10,635 
titles  at  present  in  the  Library,  not  including  some  3,000  pamphlets 
bound  in  cheap  bindings.     The  Museum  is  also  in  constructive  pos- 
session   of    the    ornithological    library  of    Mr.   Edward    E.  Ayer, 
consisting  df    about  400  valuable  works,   which  he    has  recently 
presented  to  the  Museum  and  which  will  be  added  to  the  catalogue 
this  winter.     In  order  that  the  staff  of  the  Museum  might  avail  itself 
in  the  most  convenient  manner  of  the  scientific  literature  on  the 
shelves  of  other  Chicago  libraries,  co-operative  arrangements  have 
been  made  as  far  as  possible  with  those  libraries  by  which  their 
books  can  be  used  at  the  Museum.    The  Chicago  Public  Library 
allows  its  reference  or  other  works  to  be  drawn  out  upon  the  requisi- 
tion of  the  Museum  Librarian  and  delivers  them  at  a  neighboring 
Delivery  and  Reading  Station.     The  John  Crerar  Library  promises 
a  duplicate  printed  copy  of  its  card  catalogue  and  has  indicated 
its  willingness  to  buy  scientific  literature  specially  desired  by  the 
Museum.     The  University  of  Chicago  Library  has  been  extensively 
used  by  the  staff  of  the  Museum,  and  many  courtesies  have  been  ex- 
tended and  future  facilities  promised.     The  three  largest  scientific 
libraries    of  the  city  are  thus  in  effective  co-operation  with  the 
Museum.     The  Library,  young  as  it  is,  cannot,  of  course,  pretend  to 
have  a  full  quota  even  of  the  necessary  books,  and  the  fact  needs  to 
be  emphasized  that  special  literature,  descriptive  of  scientific  species 
