THE TAXIDERMIC COLLECTION. 
113 
By a vote of the Society at the Kew York general meeting 
the invitation conveyed in the above letter was accepted, and a 
communication forwarded to the Director of the ISTational Mu- 
seum informing him of the fact. 
It is not expected that this collection will entail any expendi- 
ture from the treasury of the Society, but that it will be made 
up of individual donations directly to the Museum. In every 
case the name of the donor will appear upon the printed labels 
attached to his gifts, and the collection as a whole will be duly 
credited to the Society. When completed this collection will be 
ranked with those which illustrate the “ Graphic, Plastic, and 
Decorative Arts,” and it is hoped that this first official recogni- 
tion of taxidermy as a fine art will be fully sustained by the 
collection. 
I am authorized to state that the National Museum will afford 
the members of the Society- every facility in its power to enable 
them to prepare their contributions with as little expense as 
possible. If a member should desire to prepare and donate an 
important finished specimen or group, which would involve too 
great an outlay for him to meet alone, in such cases, subject to 
the approval of the director, the Museum will endeavor to sup- 
ply certain materials in order to lessen the cost of the produc- 
tion. All transportation charges will be met by the Institution. 
It is of course expected that each member who contributes 
either models or finished specimens will choose illustrations from 
the line of work in which he excels, in order that his contribu- 
tion may represent his skill to the best advantage. It is not ex- 
pected that the Society will contribute the entire collection of 
“ tools and materials,” but at the same time any gifts of either 
class of objects, either of common or special pattern, will be 
placed in the collection and properly accredited. 
This collection when made will be the only one of its kind in 
existence, and since it will officially represent the present state 
of the art of taxidermy it is particularly desirable that every 
object should be as fine and perfect as possible. The collection 
will be a lasting monument to the Society, and every effort will 
be made on the part of the Museum to display it to the best ad- 
vantage. 
