358 
IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 
THE BUILDING AND FUNCTION OF THE COLLEGE 
MUSEUM. 
B. H. BAILEY. 
It is with a keen sense of how far short of the real mark he 
shall come that the writer aims at the center of this target. It 
is also with an appreciation of the situation in the average col- 
lege with regard to meager funds, limited space, lack of appre- 
ciation by the authorities as well as the public, and the frequent 
unpreparedness along museum lines and the overworked condi- 
tion of the professor of natural sciences. 
Few of our Iowa colleges are without some sort of a museum. 
The catalogs either list the museum under that name in the index 
or mention is made of it in connection with the courses in Biology. 
That there has been at some time or other a person, or persons, 
in all these places who have spent time and money in the col- 
lecting of objects of various sorts which appealed to them, or to 
others who have donated them, our college museums attest. That 
this spirit of collecting and preserving objects of natural history 
is worthy I think no one will deny, but the present condition of 
the average college museum leaves open to serious question 
whether the time and effort required are worth the candle, and 
the question may well be asked what real purposes do they serve. 
May I say, too ,that the acquaintance of the writer with college 
museums has not been gained by a mere perusal of the catalogs 
of these institutions, else I might be of the opinion that there was 
left little to be desired in them but that the alumni and friends 
should add to their volume. 
The actual inspection is made with difficulty in some cases 
after the janitor has been located, after the proper apologies for 
dust and evident lack of care have been made, and the statement 
that really very few visitors are admitted and the department 
makes little use of the material for teaching. Sometimes, how- 
ever, one’s pilot points with evident pride and volubility to the 
sorry row of “stuffed” objects hanging from perch or stand, the 
remains of what might be mistaken for a “shredded wheat bis- 
cuit” meal in evidence through some crack or seam, and a label 
scarcely more definite than the conception of a lifelike pose in 
