A.inu:il Moctin-.] 270 f^">' ^' 
Toale colleclion \v;i.s tliiis obtained IVoiu riiila(lel{)lii:i. 'I'liis was 
tlien stored in Masonic Hall, Pliiladc^lphia, and was bought by 
P. T. Barnuni and Mr. Kimball together and divided between 
them. The smaller elephant in a crouching position, now in our 
possession, came from this historical collection, and also most of 
the larger (juadruj)eds and birds. The giraffe, however, and the 
large elephant, and most of the game birds, were purchased by 
Mr. Kimball. The skeleton of this elephant and the skin are 
parts of the same animal. The leather-back turtles, also parts of 
the Peale collection, both came from the Delaware Rivei-, and 
were among the first ever captured and preserved. These and 
many interesting details of the historj'^ of this collection have 
come to the Cui-ator thi-ough the kindness of Mr. Kindiall, and it 
is hoped that in the course of further work upon the specimens it 
may be practicable to obtain the history of most of them. 
The acquisition of this collection was attended with certain 
difficulties. It had to be removed within three days, and as it 
inclutled a number of large specimens, this obliged the Executive 
Committee to take the responsibility of accepting the gift and the 
expenses of the removal and installation without formal action of 
the Council. These expenses, including a large amount of tax- 
idermist's work subsequently done, came to about one thousand 
dollars. This was fortunately met in j)art by economy in other 
directions. 
The difhculties attending the removal of the stuffed elephants 
were considerable. The superintendent of police refused to allow 
them to be taken out and carted through the streets until mid- 
night, and they had to be brought here at that unseasonable hour. 
There was no door in this building which would allow them to 
enter, and they had to be hoisted and put through one of the 
front hall windows in the early hours of the morning. The 
stuffed skins were stored in the lecture room of the Society, and 
this hall where I am now reading became for the entire summer 
a Noah's Ark that saved them for the future uses of science. 
Photographs of this congress of the beasts were made at the time 
and were exhibited later. The old cases in which the specimens 
were stored in the Boston Museum were given with tlie collec- 
tion, and these were reset in our hall and have been successfully 
used to meet the immediate demands for storage. These cases. 
