28 
THE MUSEUM. 
Dr. Jesse C. Green, of West Chester, Pa., is the 
owner of a very complete collection of Continental 
and Colonial notes, which includes representatives 
of all of the original thirteen States. 
John R. Baker, Esq., of Philadelphia, Pa., has a 
large series of ancient vases from Peru, mound 
vessels of animal form, and some fine Cypriote vases 
with the characteristic vertical ornamentation. 
A collection of over 4000 postage stamps is in the 
possession of Mr. George H. Watson, of New York. 
Amongst many rare specimens are some desirable 
Confederate locals, and two of the used Mulready 
envelopes with the original addresses and postmarks. 
John R. Mcllvain, of Philadelphia, whose death 
occurred in April last, at the age of seventy-two, 
was a well-known ornithologist and collector of In¬ 
dian relics. His collection of modern Indian cos¬ 
tumes, photographs and accoutrements was probably 
the most complete private collection of the kind in 
this country. He had a room entirely devoted to his 
various collections. Around the walls were large 
standing cases, entirely filled with beautifully pre¬ 
pared birds. Amongst other curiosities, he had a 
number of nests and sets of eggs of the humming 
bird, which he had made himself, and which could 
not be distinguished in appearance from the genuine. 
The Normal School Museum of West Chester, 
Pa., contains the original and very complete her¬ 
baria of native and foreign plants, formerly owned 
by Dr. Wm. Darlington and David Townsend, 
eminent botanists of the last generation. 
The Museum of the Kansas State Historical So¬ 
ciety, of Topeka, contains valuable collections of 
autographs, coins, antiquities and modern Indian 
costumes. 
A valuable series of relics from the Swiss Lakes, 
formed by the late Dr. Ferdinand Keller, of Zurich, 
is owned by Dr. F. W. Lewis, of Philadelphia. In 
it are objects of stone, horn, bone, pottery, bronze, 
textile fabrics and specimens of charred fruits and 
cereals. The most interesting objects in the collec¬ 
tion are the bronze bracelets, hair pins and razors, 
and a number of highly polished stone celts set in 
deer’s horn handles. 
There are about 50 collectors of gold coins in the 
United States, at present, and the number is steadily 
increasing. A few years ago there were scaicely 
half a dozen. 
The Museum of the Peabody Academy of Science, 
at Salem, Mass., contains the finest collection of 
Japanese and Korean manufactures, bric-a-brac, 
curiosities and antiquities in America. It was made 
by Prof. E.. S. Morse, the Director, during a recent 
visit to Japan. The collection of objects from the 
South Sea Islands, received from the East India 
Marine Society, is also one of the best in the United 
States. The series of-natural history objects is par¬ 
ticularly rich in corals, reptiles, birds and Australian 
marsupials. 
Mr. James E. Mauran, of Newport, R. I., has the 
largest collection of heraldic book-plates in this 
country, comprising upwards of 3000 specimens. 
The University of Tokio, Japan, is desirous of 
procuring for its Museum archaeological specimens 
from America, which may be sent, for transmission, 
to Prof. Edward S. Morse, Salem, Mass. The 
University already possesses a creditable collection 
from this country, in addition to the large and valu¬ 
able collections of Japanese antiquities from the 
shell mounds of Omori, and other places. 
RARITIES IN VARIOUS COLLECTIONS. 
A large, antique, Norwegian cabinet, probably 250 
years old, in the Bloomfield Moore collection, Phila¬ 
delphia, is quaintly and elaborately carved and 
highly colored, and possesses a curious contrivance 
for concealing the lock, in the rail of one of the 
doors. This is one of the most interesting specimens 
of antique carving to be found in any public museum 
in the United States. 
There are probably only three or four silver United 
States dollars of 1804, known in collections, which 
were coined in that year from the original die. The 
majority of those offered for sale, and sometimes 
bringing as much as 750 or 1000 dollars, are re¬ 
strikes, which can scarcely be distinguished from the 
genuine. 
