WARD'S NATURAL SCIENCE BULLETIN. 
11 
can birds two are worthy of special attention, 
the Great Auk, and the Labrador Duck, both of 
which have probably become extinct at a com- 
paratively recent date. ISTo reason has been 
advanced for the extinction of the Labrador 
Duck, but it is pretty evident that man alone is 
the cause for that of the Auk. Of the forty 
existing specimens of this bird, only four are 
held in this country, and while it may not be 
worth its weight in gold, yet the specimen under 
consideration cost $625. The last Great Auk on 
record was found dead in the ocean near the 
coast of Labrador, in 1870, and is supposed, like 
the Siberian Mammoth, to have long been pre 
served in the ice. 
Following North America is South America, 
and here we pause for some time before the large 
and well mounted series of Humming Birds 
which form so characteristic a feature of the 
South American avi fauna. Passing onward we 
meet in succession the birds of Europe, Asia, 
Africa and Australia, the distinctive species of 
each division being well represented. Note- 
worthy among the latter is a magnificent series 
of Birds of Paradise, one of the latest acquisi- 
tions of the museum. Why these birds should 
exceed all others in the gorgeous and singular 
developments of their plumage is inexplicable, 
but certain it is that almost every species has 
some plumation peculiar to itself. Most of the 
foreign birds were mounted by European taxi- 
dermists, and among them those from the late 
“Maison Yerreaux ” are readily distinguishable. 
Of course there are many specimens which judged 
by modern standards are far from perfect, but 
the proportion is comparatively small and con- 
tinually decreasing by the replacement of poor 
by better examples. 
The gallery around the main hall is devoted to 
Ethnology, and contains a large and instructive 
collection, especially rich in material from the 
Pacific Islands. The prominent place accorded 
by these savages to war and the chase is abund- 
antly shown bv the amount of labor expended 
in carving their paddles and war clubs, and from 
the time it must have Jnken, one would judge 
that they had nothing particular to do, and an 
abundance of leisure for doing it properly. 
Gould anything mitigate the unpleasantness of 
being knocked on the head, it would be the fact 
that the deed was performed with one of these 
elaborate clubs. As dress is, in a great measure, 
a test of civilization, the Indians of our North- 
western coast evidently rank above the South 
Sea Islanders, as many articles of wearing ap- 
parel in this collection witness the fact that 
much time and skill is employed in their manu- 
facture. Some of the bead work and some of 
the blankets are remarkably fine, although from 
their apparent weight we would rather be ex- 
cused from wearing them. Pew stop to think 
of the distance these same beads have travelled. 
Largely made in Venice, they are purchased by 
the Russian traders, and cross Siberia and the 
North Pacific before they finally reach their 
destination and are exchanged for furs. At a 
distance from the coast we find beads replaced 
by quills of the Canada Porcupine, stained black, 
blue and yellow by means of vegetable dyes. At 
the end of this gallery, and near by the Eskimo 
collections, hangs a large painting of the Polaris 
in winter quarters, which is eminently qualified 
to suggest the cheerfulness! of arctic exploration. 
We were somewhat inclined to question the 
truthfulness of the red and blue tones of this 
picture until we witnessed the effects, to a some- 
what less degree produced by one of our own 
wintry sunsets. Besides the objects displayed 
in tire alcove cases, a continuous case attached 
to the gallery railing is filled with stone imple- 
ments from France, Switzerland, Denmark and 
the United States, the collection from the valley 
of the Loire being not only the best in the United 
States, but, with one exception, the best in the 
world. In a case by the door stand the mounted 
skeletons of three aboriginal Australians, a race 
that is fast becoming civilized out of existence, 
and specimens of which are, therefore, particu- 
larly desirable. 
The upper and last exhibition hall is devoted 
to Geology, the main part of the display consist- 
ing of the celebrated collection purchased from 
Prof. James Hall for $65,000. Some idea of the 
scientific value of this collection may be found 
from the fact that out of 80,000 selected speci- 
mens contained in this series, over 5,000 are 
either type specimens, or have been figured on 
account of their perfection. This collection is 
more attractive to the skilled palaeontologist 
than to the general public, owing to the fact that 
the great majority of the specimens are inverte- 
brates, as must necessarily be the case with any 
series of North American fossils. Specimens from 
the western territories, where so many interest- 
ing forms have been discovered during the past 
few years, have not as yet found their way 
largely into collections, but this is a deficiency 
which will be remedied in time. A number of 
geological relief maps show some of the work of 
the U. S. Geological Survey, aud present the geo- 
logical features of the country they cover in a 
very graphic manner. At one end of this hand- 
some hall stands a skeleton of the Irish Elk, 
and at the other a skeleton of the huge Dinornis 
or Moa. Skeletons of several other species are 
in the case hard by, making the best series of 
these extinct gigantic birds in this country. 
The remaining, or attic story, for it seems a 
misnomer to call so light and lofty a. story an 
attic, is divided into various rooms, among them 
one containing the library of the N. Y. Acade- 
my of Science, and one used as a lecture-room. 
And thus having visited the various floors of 
the building, we take a glance at the basement 
before departing, and notice the massive founda- 
tion walls, which show that the solidity of the 
building is not only apparent, but real, and that 
the architects intended it should indeed stand 
for all time. Year by year the collections of 
the museum grow in number and value, while 
its' educational influence increases with still 
more rapid steps. For one of the great objects 
of a museum is to educate the public, since 
only by a general interest in «cience can the 
means be provided for original research. How 
best to arouse this interest in the young, and 
thereby make sure that the coming generation 
will fully appreciate and sustain the museum, 
has been one of the problems that Prof. Bick- 
rnore has set himself to solve. 
Now the New York schools are divided into 
primary and grammar departments, the gram- 
mar department being in turn sub - divided 
into four grades, and in these four grades 
oral instruction in various branches of natural 
history is required by law. Here, then, was 
the crevice for the opening point of the 
wedge, to aid the teacher in carrying out the 
requirements of the law. Until the existence 
of the American Museum, the living animals at 
Central Park were the sole sources whence the 
teacher in the second grade, where zoology is 
required, could draw ideas directly from the ani- 
mals themselves, and of necessity these animals 
were few in number. A year and a half ago the 
museum authorities addressed a letter to the board 
of School Commissioners, stating that the collec- 
tions were now arranged, and suggesting that 
twenty-five or thirty teachers should attend a 
series of six lectures, to be delivered by Prof. 
Bickmore. Such was the interest aroused by 
these lectures, that the course was extended to 
twenty, and upon its completion the board of 
School Commissioners returned thanks to the 
museum authorities, and requested that, if possi- 
ble, instruction might be provided for fifty 
teachers. To accommodate this number, two 
of the work-rooms on the upper floor were 
altered to a lecture-room, and instead of the ex- 
pected fifty, nearly one hundred teachers were 
present at the course of lectures on physical ge- 
ography, The third course of lectures, on zo- 
ology, is now in progress, and during its first 
half the attendance increased to one hundred 
and fifty, while the applications for tickets were 
so numerous that twice the room now devoted 
to a lecture hall could be readily filled. These 
applications come not only from teachers in the 
public schools, but also from those employed in 
private institutions, showing that the importance 
of the study of natural history is everywhere be- 
ing realized. In view of the fact that the teach- 
ers who weekly assemble in the lecture-room 
represent one hundred and four schools and one 
hundred and twenty thousand pupils, the vast 
influence of American Museum of Natural His- 
tory on the rising generation can be readily ap- 
preciated, as well as the fact that Prof. Bick- 
more has taken the very best method to bring 
this influence to bear. 
The lecture-room is Prof. Bickmore’s special 
delight, and much time and thought have been 
spent in rendering it perfect. His theory is that 
the attention of the audience should be kept on 
the lecture, and not suffered to wander to any- 
thing outside of it, not even to the specimens 
used to illustrate it; moreover, these specimens 
should all be in the room ready to be shown at 
exactly the right moment, so that the thread of 
the discourse may not be broken by an excursion 
to the museum halls to see the animals referred. 
Accordingly the lectures are given in a darkened 
room, and illustrations are thrown, by means of 
a stereopticon, on a screen to the right of the 
lecturer. When Prof. Bickmore began these 
lectures, he sought to procure a good series of 
stereopticon slides, but found that none was in 
existence. This deficiency he set himself to 
remedy, and under his direction Mr. L. C. 
Landy, photographer to the museum, has pre- 
pared a large number of beautiful slides from 
carefully selected subjects. It may interest 
some of our readers to know that the museum is 
willing to furnish duplicates of these slides to 
any who may wish them, at the cost of printing. 
To the left of the lecturer is a blackboard, and 
beyond this a series of shelves for the reception 
of specimens to illustrate the lecture in hand. A 
second and specially contrived lantern is so ar- 
ranged as to illuminate any portion of this sur- 
face, so that while the enlarged figure of an ani- 
mal is displayed on the stereopticon screen, the 
animal itself can be seen on the shelves, and its 
classification on the blackboard, the lecturer 
being all the time invisible. The subject of the 
lecture and its main divisions are written on the 
board, all technical terms being, so far as possi- 
ble, cai’efully translated into plain anglo-saxon. 
Thus the topics can be readily understood by all, 
and no one can complain of being overwhelmed 
with a flood of polysyllabic words. 
Did time and space permit, we would like to 
write more about these lectures, but think 
enough has been said to show their great import- 
ance from an educational standpoint. While the 
collections appeal to the eyes of the many visit 
ors, these lectures carry the influence of the mu- 
seum to thousands who would otherwise have, 
perhaps, been even ignorant of its existence. 
This awakening of scientific interest in the 
young will, in a few years, prove of inestimable 
value to the museum, and rapid as has been its 
progress in the past, we are prepared to see it 
advance with still more rapid strides in the 
future, until New York shall be as proud of its 
Museum as it is of the beautiful park adjoining. 
F. A. L. 
DARWIN. 
Time was, and not many years ago, when 
Darwinism was only a joke for the scientific 
world, something such as it still remains for the 
uneducated, the thoughtless and the unintelligent. 
The theory which he extended to man is now in 
its essential principles the foundation, “the work- 
ing hypothesis” as Rev. Dr. McCosh and Presi- 
dent Dawson have described and welcomed it, of 
all modern philosophy regarding life upon the 
globe. Time was when it was regarded as ab- 
horrent and fatal to religion, and was dreaded 
and denounced as fiercely as Galileo’s demonstra- 
tion that. the world moves. It is now the only 
possible teaching in natural history in all colleges. 
Many professors of science still stick at the appli- 
cation of the evolution theory to the production 
of man and his faculties and feelings, but more 
out of compliment to humanity, in the absence of 
ample positive evidence, than because of any 
inherent and logical inapplicability of the theory 
to man’s case. 
