15 
by a paper of thirty-seven quarto pages, and three plates pub- 
lished in the Memoirs. 
Endowment Fund. — The importance of a much larger En- 
dowment Fund has frequently been brought to your notice in 
former reports. Only the interest of the present fund is available 
for the purchase of collections, and with the rapid growth of the 
Institution our usefulness may be seriously retarded by the lack 
of means to acquire new and important material. There are 
occasions when the inability to purchase a collection may work 
great injury. Our citizens have but little conception of the 
rapidity with which the Museum has grown during the past few 
years, and if this growth is to continue we need to be placed in a 
position to take advantage of favorable opportunities. An 
addition of five hundred thousand dollars to our Endowment 
Fund would yield an increase of income sufficient to maintain 
the present progress of the Museum for many years. The In- 
stitution has been fortunate in the aid thus far received from its 
friends, but I may be pardoned for repeating that the income 
devoted to the enlargement of the collections has not been nearly 
sufficient for that purpose. The advancement has been most 
gratifying even under unfavorable conditions, but this fact only 
serves to emphasize the need of greater means. 
It is with pleasure that I refer to the zealous assistance afforded 
me by my associate Trustees in administering the affairs of 
the Museum. They have willingly given every aid that attention 
and money could render, and to them the Institution is largely 
indebted for its prosperity. 
In closing, it is but just to note the faithful service rendered by 
the curators and heads of departments, and by all the employees 
of the Museum, for which I desire to express my cordial appre- 
ciation. 
MORRIS K. JESUP, 
Presideiit. 
