( 9 2 ) 
museum of the future, though much less important, must not be 
overlooked. Specimens belonging to any branch of natural his¬ 
tory from other parts of the United States, and series of objects 
from foreign countries, have a positive value ; and it would be a 
mistake to ignore the deep interest which the general public take 
in miscellaneous objects of this character. It is not only natural 
but praiseworthy, that those who have visited distant countries, 
should, year by year, seek to deposit, for the public good, in a 
city to which the ties of birth or of affectionate associations bind 
them, such objects of interest as they may have gathered in their 
travels. Section V of your By-laws reserves space for such ; but 
what is respectfully and earnestly contended for in this report, is 
the necessity of subordinating this miscellaneous element—[which 
can find appropriate and full development in the general museums 
of large cities like New York, Boston or Philadelphia]—to the 
main object our Society should keep in view, namely the forma¬ 
tion of local collections. So far, looking at the list of what has 
been already presented, the extraneous or miscellaneous element 
seems to have predominated, and for the future, we should try to 
reverse this. 
Some practical suggestions may possibly not be regarded as 
out of place from your curator in such an initial report as the 
present one. It might then be borne in mind that the following 
branches of natural history do not present much difficulty in their 
practical investigation, and that many of the members might, dur¬ 
ing the coming summer, collect in the selected departments now 
specified, namely, minerals, carboniferous and other fossils, shells, 
of which one member might undertake the littoral, a second the 
fluviatile, and a third the land shells ; insects, one undertaking the 
Lepidoptera, a second, the Coleoptera, and a third the spiders or 
Arachnida ; marine Alga; or seaweeds, the collection and manip¬ 
ulation of which are well suited for lady members, as their -prep¬ 
aration infers both patience and delicacy of touch ; plants, one 
undertaking the grasses, another the ferns, another the flowering 
plants, and so on. Limitation to one family of a class is a good 
rule for a collector, for, if too wide a class be attempted, a partial 
and imperfect list is often the result. 
These seem to be the simplest paths of inquiry in which collec- 
