5 
dation, a Museum whicb, as they hope, will bi; worthy of recognition 
as a National Institution. 
It had long been a subject of regret to many citizens inter'isted in 
the cause of education and culture, that this great city, the most 
prominent seat of American civihzation, should remain entirely destitute 
of any adequate means for the study of Natural History, while all the 
other principal branches of science and knowledge found within it their 
professors and their colleges, which invited students from all parts of 
the laud, and furnished tliem with suitable facihties for acquiring the 
special education which they sought. It was also considered that a 
department of knowledge which has in recent years assumed so large 
a share of attention and so marked a place in every scheme of Liberal 
Education, should have in this city a grand collection of specimens, 
free to the inspection of its own citizens as a source of public amuse- 
ment, and open to tlie use of the teachers and scholars of its public 
and private schools as a means of general instruction. 
It was for these purposes that the Legislature of the State of New 
York, by an Act passed on the 6th of April, 1869, created the 
Trustees and their successors a body corporate by the name of " The 
American Museum of Natural History," to be located in the City of 
New York, for the purpose of establishing and maintaining in said 
city a Museum and Library of Natural History ; of encouraging and 
developing the study of Natural Science; of advancing the general 
knowledge of kindred subjects, and to that end of furnishing popular 
instruction and recreation. Under this Ch9,rter the Trustees immedi- 
ately organized, and have, during the five years which have since 
elapsed, devoted no inconsiderable amount of time and thought, as 
well as of money, to carrying into practical operation its useful pro- 
visions. Having by their own contributions, and those of many 
public-spirited citizens who evinced a substantial interest in the project, 
obtained the necessary means, they purchased the extensive collection 
of Mammals, Birds, Fishes, etc. belonging to the late Prince Maxi- 
milian of Neuwiod, the EUiott collection of Birds, besides a large part 
of the celebrated Verreaux and other collections of specimens of 
Natural History, and thus found themselves in possession of a suitable 
nucleus for a complete collection, but without any proper building or 
place of deposit, where the specimens might be at the same time safely 
preserved and made available for the popular use and enjoyment. At 
