THE INSTITUTE’S HERBARIUM. 151 
literature, all of which, of course, was lost, Nature 
Study finding itself without a single exchange on the 
morning after the fire. 
Disastrous as the fire had proved to be, the regular work 
of the Institute was scarce^ interrupted. A new location 
was promptly secured, fitted up, a lecture in the course on 
literature was given before a large audience on Saturday 
evening, the Entomological Section continued its regular 
work on Monday evening, and the other Sections followed 
in the order of the calendar arranged at the beginning of 
the year. 
The Institute has an active membership of more than 400 
representative citizens, is strong financially, and will go 
on eagerly and systematically w r ith its pleasant task of 
building up an instructive museum, restocking its library, 
and prosecuting its researches in its chosen fields. 
The Institute’s Herbarium. 
The herbarium of the Institute, totally destroyed in the 
recent fire, consisted largely of the collections made bj^Mr. 
F. W. Batchelder during the last tw r elve years. There 
had also been important contributions by Mrs. Maria E. 
Clough, of this city, Mrs. Maria E. Owen of Springfield, 
Mass., and others. Though this collection was not’yet 
large, reckoning by the number of sheets, nor fully repre¬ 
sentative of the local flora, it contained many specimens of 
special interest as being rare or unexpected. There was 
a good representation of ferns and orchids and especially 
of the grasses. It may be difficult to replace some of these 
from the local stations. It is hoped that all persons inter¬ 
ested in the local flora will make the effort to collect dur¬ 
ing the coming seasons, so that an herbarium worthy of so 
rich a region may, in the course of time, be formed. 
