iv PROCEEDINGS—PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 
right cases. It was called a table case, but the slope of the glass on 
both sides was very steep, being at an angle of about 60 deg. with 
the horizontal. In this way a large amount of exhibition space was 
obtained at the cost of a small amount of floor space. One useful 
feature of the Museum was a series of small tables and chairs placed 
in each room for the use of students. To each table was attached 
books of reference bearing on the collections displayed in the room. 
Of the Curators at Washington to whom I am specially indebted, 
I feel bound to mention the names of Mr. True, at the head cf the 
Mammal Department; Mr. Wilson (Prehistoric Archaeology); and 
Mr. Clark (Ethnology); also Mr. Earll, who had charge of the ex¬ 
hibits sent from the Museum to the Chicago Exposition, and who 
showed me much kindness during my visit there. 
7. Museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences of 
Philadelphia.— This is one of the oldest scientific institutions in 
America, having been founded in 1812. It is classic ground for 
other reasons besides its antiquity, for here, in the midst of the 
extensive collection of shells, Tryon elaborated his Manual of Con- 
chology, and here Mr. Pilsbury, whose acquaintance I had the 
pleasure of making, is carrying on the same work with even more 
elaborate care. Here, also, I had the pleasure of seeing birds that 
had been shot by Audubon and Wilson, America’s great Ornitho¬ 
logists. The Museum, as it stands at present, is rather out of date. 
It is contained in one rectangular hall, with two galleries, the whole 
being rather dimly lighted, partly from the roof and partly from the 
side. The cases are equally behind the age, having heavy oak 
frames and common glass. In these the specimens are arranged 
without much idea of sequence, and are very much overcrowded. This 
state of matters, however, is not to be allowed to continue, for a fine 
new building is being erected adjoining the old one, and in it the 
more important collections will, in course of time, be suitably housed, 
with elbow-room for future expansion—an important feature in a 
museum with any vitality. One interesting feature of the bird col¬ 
lection is a small series of some of the local species mounted with 
their natural surroundings. These are not got up in the elaborate 
and costly w T ay that I saw and admired in some of the larger and 
wealthier museums, w r here each group had a case to itself, but w^ere 
simply mounted with the nest and some reeds, branches, or soil, as 
the case might be. As a guarantee that the surroundings were true 
to nature, they w r ere set up under the supervision of Mr. Witmer 
Stone, one of the assistant Curators, w T ho is himself an active Orni¬ 
thologist. Mr. Stone informed me that many people came back to 
the Museum week after w r eek to see if any new T and interesting groups 
had been added to the series. It occurred to me that we might, 
without much expense, be able to carry out a similar idea on a small 
scale in our new building, and thereby make our bird collection even 
more attractive than it is at present. 
8. The American Museum of Natural History, Central 
Park, New York.— This is one of the new T est of the American 
Museums, and in some respects it is the finest. No expense has 
