Annual Meeting.] 
244 
[May 1, 
event in the history of similar institutions. The readiness with 
which this has been done can be in a measure accounted for by the 
fact, that the establishment of Natural History Gardens is a nat- 
ural extension of the work this Society has been doing in two of 
its departments, the Museum and the Teachers’ School of Science. 
We have been carrying on in a quiet but effective way a museum 
having in view the education of general students, teachers and the 
public. That we have not yet completed this department is due, 
in part, to the want of funds, and in part to the indifference of 
the community. This indifference arises partly from the fact that 
we are really in advance of the demands of the times. When the 
teaching of natural history in the public schools shall have reached 
an effective stage, the demand for such instruction as this Museum 
affords will far exceed what it is at present. This department will 
then command more attention and receive more patronage than it 
does now. Even now the visits of teachers and scholars to our 
collections are constant during the warmer months of the year, and 
this demand could be greatly increased at any time by lectures on 
the collections, by the publication of proper guides, or by warming 
the whole building during the winter months. The lectures in the 
Teachers’ School of Science have been credited by the best author- 
ity, the late Miss Lucretia Crocker, with having created a favora- 
ble feeling towards natural-history teaching in the community and 
also with having prepared a large number of teachers for the teach- 
ing of natural science, thus opening the way and giving a basis for 
her great work, the introduction of science teaching into the curric- 
ulum of the public schools of Boston. 
It might have been urged with great force that this Society was 
already doing enough ancfthat it ought not to take upon itself any 
new burdens until its museum had been completed. This argu- 
ment was, however, not discussed or even mentioned and it was 
decided that the Society held a position of responsibility towards 
the public, and that it ought not to refuse to do its part in trying 
to supply a real need, if its trust funds could be secured from peril, 
and, if the needs to be met were appropriate to its plan and ob- 
jects. As long as such public spirit prevails in both young and 
old alike, this Society need never fear that it is becoming too con- 
servative. 
The connection, except in a very vague and general way, be- 
tween the work being done by the Natural History Gardens and 
