150 
NATURE STUDY. 
The Institute’s Loss. 
On the night of January 14, 1902, the large block in 
which the Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences had 
been located since its organization was destroyed by fire. 
The Institute’s loss was total, the six-story building itself 
being utterly consumed. Fortunately there was no loss of 
life ; for although there had been a largely attended meet¬ 
ing of the Section in Ornithology that evening, its mem¬ 
bers had dispersed shortly before the alarm was given. 
The Section of Fine Arts owned several paintings of 
considerable merit, numerous groups of statuary, ' many 
rare and costly curios, casts for the drawing classes, and a 
complete wood-carving outfit, consisting of tables, tools, 
designs and all the usual appliances. The loss by the Or¬ 
nithological Section was also very heavy in birds, nests 
and eggs. The Botanical Section mourns the loss of a 
beautiful herbarium, containing a nearly complete repre¬ 
sentation of the local flora, while the Sections in Mineral¬ 
ogy, Zoology and Entomology lost good working collec¬ 
tions in their respective lines. The loss of the collection 
of insects is particularly regrettable, as it contained the 
types upon which the published lists of dragon-flies in the 
vicinity of Manchester were based. The Institute’s gen¬ 
eral museum was peculiarly rich in objects of historic in¬ 
terest and in material illustrating the home and field life 
of the earlier inhabitants, including the aborigines them¬ 
selves, much of which material can never be replaced. 
The loss of its library was also a heavy blow to the Insti¬ 
tute. It was especially rich in works upon art, some of 
them very expensive, and a considerable number of the 
scientific books are out of print and exceedingly rare. 
The reading room was well supplied with current scientific 
