AN ACCOUNT OF THE OIRGANIZATION ANID PROGRIESS OF THE MUSEUif OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY AT HARVARD COLLEGE, IN CAMBRIDGE, MASS. C A MB PRIDGE: WELCH, BIGELOW, AND COMPANY, UNIVERSITY PRESS. 1871. THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY IN CAMBRIDGE. [This pamphlet was chiefly prepared last summer while Profes-sor Ai.~siZ was ill and absent from Cambridge. Though he has been consulted about certain statements therein contained, he has had no direct concern in writing it. It is proper to say this, inasmuch as what may come as a very timely statement from friends of the Museum would from its personal character be wholly unbecoming from its Director.] IN the year 1847 the late Hon. Abbott Lawrence gave fifty thousand dollars to Harvard University for the purpose of establishing THIE LAWRENCE SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL. At that time Mr. Lawrence asked Professor Agassiz if he would accept a professorsihip in the new School, adding that his favorable answer would be an additional inducement for him to make the endowment. Professor Agassiz accepted the offer, and was soon afterwards appointed Lawrence Professor of Zod!ogy and Geology in the Scientific School of Harvard University. He found, on entering upon his duties, that there were no collections in Cambridge Awith whtich to illustrate lectures upon Geologiy and Zo5logy, and that no provision had been made to obtain such collections by purchase or otherwise. He was, therefore, obliged to make them at his own expense, which he did until they had outgrown his means and individual powers. In 1852, wlhen the Professor had already extensive collections, stored partly in his own house, partly in the cellar of Harvard Hall., and partly in a shanty on the Brighton road, the late IMr. Sa-muel Eliot, who was then Tre.asurer of Harvard University, raised by private subscription the sum of twelve thousand dollars to purchase these collections and to provide for their arrangement. Professor Agassiz, howeVter, continued to spend all that he could spare of his time and his earnings to increase the collections, until, in 1858, they had outgrown the wants of tile College and the scientific students, and a movement was made to build up and organize the Museum, as it now is, as an independent institution. In 1858 MAr. Francis C. Gray, of Boston, died, leaving a bequest of fifty thousand dollars for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a 4 MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY; at the same time leaving it optional with his nephew, Mr. William Gray, whether the Museum should be connected with I-Iarvard University, or with some other institution of the same kind. On the 20th of December, 1858, Mr. William Gray informed the President and Fellows of Harvard University that he presented them with fifty thousand dollars, as bequeathed by Mr. Francis C. Gray, for the establishment of a Museum of Comparative Zoology; at the same time making other valuable donations for the benefit of the University. The President and Fellows of Harvard University, in accepting these gifts, voted, - " That the corporation are duly sensible that the final determination as to these noble charities was left to William Gray, Esq., in his capacity as executor and residuary legatee of his uncle's estate; and they request their President to write a letter of acknowledgment to that gentleman, thanking him for a liberality of conduct and a generous regard for the interests of the University which will forever associate his own and his uncle's name in these wise and munificent endowments." STATE AID. In 1859 the matter of State aid to the Museum of Comparative Zoology was broulght to the notice of the Legislature through the message of Governor Banks, and the Committee on Education took into consideration the proposition to appropriate money for the erection of a suitable building at Cambridge for the use of that Institution. In February of that year the Committee on Education invited Professor Agassiz to address them on the subject. This invitation was accepted, and in the course of his remarks he said:"It is unnecessary for me to state to you that the great object I have in view in appearing before you is the preservation of the collections of zo6logical specimens which I have been for a long time engaged in making. But I have merely laid the foundation of a great museum by my labors of the past six or eight years, and these choice specimens are now in a building which is totally unsafe. The specimens are preserved in alcohol, and this alcohol is constantly running over, rendering it unsafe to have fire in the building by day or by night. My great object is to have a museum founded here which will equal the great museums of the Old World. We have a continent before us for exploration which has as yet been only skimmed on the surface..... I have recently received a letter from the Director of the Museum at Vienna stating that he had sent me several hundred specimens of fishes from the Euphrates, the Nile, and elsewhere, for which he wished a single specimen of 5 an American fish of which I had duplicates. My earnest desire has always been, and is now, to put our universities on a footing with those of Europe, or even ahead of them; so that there would be the same disposition among European students to come to America for the completion of their education that there always has been among our students to avail themselves of the advantages of' European universities and schools. And I think the time has now come when this object can be gained. This is evident every way, and is seen, more particularly, in the disposition of the professors of Harvard College to acquire and encourage high scientific culture..... I have for several years past been consulting with an architect, my friend Mr. Henry Greenough, in regard to the proper plan on which a museum should be built. It is desirable that it should be fireproof, though a moderate expense would not allow of its being entirely so. The building should be on a large area, and I should hardly wish to have it erected unless with the idea of indefinite extension. My idea in regard to the collections is to furnish you with what money will not buy for you when I am gone, — specimens which will be invaluable because they cannot be easily procured elsewhere..... I receive no compensation whatever for the salaries of my assistants, but pay them out of my own pocket..... Several years since twelve thousand dollars were raised by citizens of Boston to secure these collections for the Scientific School, and I have spent a great part of my earnings in enlarging them. There is not an assistant in my department whom I do not now pay out of my own pocket, and I expect to incur personally the expense of labelling and preparing the specimens when they are put in the new building, should one be erected." The Committee made a favorable report, and on the 2d of April, 1859, the Legislature of Massachusetts voted that aid should be granted to the Museum of Comparative Zoilogy to the extent of not more than one hundred thousand dollars, payable from sales of lands belonging to the Commonwealth in the Back Bay. The sum of seventy-one thousand one hundred and twenty-five dollars was also raised by private subscription among the citizens of Boston "for the purpose of erecting a fire-proof building in Cambrid ge suitable to receive, to protect, and to exhibit advantageously and freely to all comers, the collection of objects in Natural Science brought together by Professor Louis Agassiz, with such additions as may hereafter be made to it." THE PLAN OF THE BUILDING. In June, 1859, articles of agreement were made and executed between the Trustees of the Museum of Comparative Zoilogy and the President and Fellows of Harvard College, and a piece of land of about five acres in extent was deeded by Harvard College to the Museum for the purpose of erecting a fire-proof building to contain 6 exhibition-rooms, lecture-room, working-rooms, etc. Prof. Agassiz had for a long time discussed the plan and the requirements of a museum with Mr. Henry Greenough of Cambridge; and now, when the opportunity offered for carrying out these views, MIr. Greenough and MIr. George Snell, the architect, of Boston, with a generosity which has never been publicly noticed, and should not be forgotten, volunteered their services to make the plans of such a museum as Professor Agassiz had contemplated for many years. This museum, whllen completed, was to consist of a main building 364 feet in length by 64 feet in width, with wings 205 feet in length and 64 feet in width; but as the present object was to meet the immediate requirements of the Museum, it was decided that the first portion built should only be two fifths of the north wing, which would give ample room for tile collections of Professor Agassiz and for the necessary working-rooms, lectureroom, etc. required for the assistants and students connected with the Institution. THE LAYING OF THE CORNER-STONE of the Museum of Comparative Zoology took place with appropriate ceremonies on the 14th of June, 1859. Governor Banks opened the proceedings by briefly stating the nature of the occasion, and introduced Professor Agassiz, who made a short address, expressing the pleasure with which he participated in the ceremony of the day. " I am glad," he said, " before my departure for Europe to see ground actually broken in the establishment of another purely American institution of science, - one which by its successful operation cannot fail to release America from foreign dependence in matters of science and from that criticism and control which the learned men of Europe have heretofore assumed exclusively to exercise. It is gratifying to observe what has already been accomplished; a collection has been gathered which is sufficient to teach American students all that they can learn of comparative zoology, until they are prepared to undertake their own original investigations, and the means have been provided to erect a safe and convenient building to preserve this collection. Moreover, it is part of our design to expend as little as possible of our means in brick and mortar. After completing the building to be this day begun, we shall still have a part of our funds applicable to the enlargement of the collection. At present we shall be content with half of one of the wings of the great building; but extensive as is the plan, I cannot doubt that the whole will ultimately be completed. I feel sure that means will be provided as fast as they can be usefully applied, and if I should not survive to witness the completion of the whole design, I kniw that I leave behind me among my pupils those who will be amply able to aid in carrying forward the work to a successful end. It has been suggested that all this gratifying success has been due to my efforts; but I have done nothing except to point out what was needed and what might be accomplished. It is to the liberality of the citizens of Boston, and to the generosity of the Legislature, acting in accordance with the wise suggestions of the Governor, that we owe an institution which cannot fail to prove an honor and an advantage to the State." INTERESTING C-OtRESPONDENCE. In October, 1859, Professor Agassiz addressed the following letter to the Trustees of the Mluseum:MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN, - When I appeared last spring before a Joint Committee of the House and Senate, to solicit aid in behalf of a Museum of Comparative Zodlogy, I mentioned incidentally that it was my intention to present to such an institution, after it should have been founded, whatever collections I may myself possess that could be acceptable for its increase. It is now my desire formally to fulfil my engagement. Allow me to state in this connection that, since 1852, when the collections I had made up to that time were secured for the University by a subscription raised among citizens of Boston, I have taken charge of those specimens and cared for their safe preservation by providing for jars, alcohol, and the other means of keeping them in a good condition, and also largely increased the collection by securing at my private expense as many more specimens as I could up to last year, when the Corporation of Harvard College began to aid me by a monthly allowance, until the movement was set on foot which has ended in the establishment of the Institution now in course of operation. What I now offer to you for acceptance is the collection I have made since 1852, and any claim I may have upon the Museum for the care of that part of the collection secured at that time for the University. The sums I have paid in cash for making these additions to the Museum, including the expenses for preserving the specimens belonging to the University, amount to ten thousand dollars, not counting my travelling expenses when making excursions and longer journeys for the purpose of gathering specimens, I hope, Mr. President and gentlemen, you will accept this contribution to the Museum from a student of Nature who feels deeply grateful for all that you are doing for the advancement of his favorite science. Please, Mr. President and gentlemen, to accept the assurance of my highest regard and of my entire devotion to our scientific institutions. L. AGASSIZ. THE REPLY. To this letter the Trustees made the following reply: To Louis AGASSIZ, Professor of Zoology and Geology in tlhe Lawrence Scientific School, Harvard College. SIRn, - The subscribers, Trustees of the Museum of Comparative Zo6logy, it their last meeting, received from you a communication, offering, as a donation to the Museum, all the collections you have made in Zoiilogy since the year 1852. This gift they gratefully accept. In so doing, however, they desire to express their conviction that, while the sum of ten thousand dollars, by which in general terms you describe the cost to yourself of these collections, is undoubtedly much below the sum you have thus expended, still they are sensible that the importance of what you have now so fireely contributed to the cause of science is to be measured by no such modes of computation. For they are aware that to you personally- to 3our genius, your love of science, your courage and disinterestedness — the original establishment of the Museum of Comparative Zoologry is due more than to any other cause whatever,.or to all other causes united. They are aware that you have personally given what they believe will prove a decisive and guiding impulse to the study of Natural History in these United States. They therefore cannot accept your munificent gift without remembering that, whatever may have been its pecuniary cost, your character and services have imparted to it much the largest portion of its great and acknowledged value. Neither can they omit to express their earnest hope, not only that you may long live to enjoy and sustain the Institution which you have founded, but that future generations, mindful of what they owe you, may, with equal fidelity, carry on the work you have begun with so much energy and success. We remain, very faithfully, your friends, NATI-IANIEL P. BANIS, Governor of the Com2?nonwealth; ELIPITALET TRASIK, Lieutenzant- Govern or; CHARLES A. PHELPS, President of the Senate; JoHN A. GOODWIN, Speaker of the House of Representatives; GEORGE S. BOUTWELL, Secretary of the Board of Education; LEMUEL SHIAW, Chief Justice of the Suprenze Judical Court. WILLIAM GRAY, NATHANIEL TtIAYER, JACOB BIGELOW, SAMUEL IIOOPER, JAMES WALKER, SAMUEL G. WiARD, GEORGE TICKNOR, JAMES LAWRENCE, Trustees of the.Museum of Comparative Zoilogy. 9 ACTIVITY OF THE MUSEUM. - PROFESSOR AGASSIZ S REPORTS. In December, 1859, the building was sufficiently advanced to allow Professor Agassiz, on his return from Europe, to move the greater part of his collections from the insecure places where they were stored into the fire-proof Museum for which he had so long wished. In May, 1860, ihe building was completed, and was found to be so well fitted for the purposes intended that Professor Agassiz declared, that, after his recent examination of the principal Museums in Europe, he would not alter it in any respect if he could do so by a wish. The annual reports of the Director of the Museum for the years 1861 and 1862 contain little beside accounts of the additions to the collections. WVhen the war between the Northern and Southern States broke out the Museum was a sufferer, for several of the assistants upon whom Professor Agassiz relied for valuable services joined the Northern army. The funds, also, of the Museum were running low; but it was no time to ask for further supplies when all the resources of the country, both public and private, were required to put down the Rebellion. Still, the Director, in his report for the year 1863, was able to record with gratitude "the liberality of the Legislature in granting $10,000 for the publication of an Illustrated Catalogue of the Museum, which will enable us to lay the results of our investigations before the scientific world in an appropriate form, and thus extend the usefulness of our Institution beyond the limits of those who have immediate access to its over-crowded rooms." Hie also says in his report, speaking of the continued increase and development of the Museum:"' Had my task from the beginning been restricted to the putting up of a Museum that should answer the wants of the University within the limits of our present means, I might be blamed for extending its sphere of action; but I understood the object of this organization to be the founding of a great Museum, and I am happy to be able to say that the general frame of such an institution is not only fairly laid out, but is already so far advanced in some of its most important features as to challenge competition." CONTRIBUTIONS FROMI BRAZIL. The Museum continued to progress steadily, although the increase of its collections and the development of the system of instruction, which is one of the most valuable features of the Institution, caused the want of an adequate income to be every day more sensibly felt. 10 Among the many fri'ends of science, both of high and low degree, no one had shown more interest in the progress of the Museum than Dom Pedro the Second, the present Emperor of Brazil. His Majesty had caused to be made for the Aluseum a large collection of the fresh-water fishes of the vicinity of Rio Janeiro, most interesting in themselves, and especially so to Professor Agassiz, as part of them were among the first objects which attracted his attention in the earliest years of his scientific pursuits, when, as a young man, he had been selected by the naturalist Martius to describe the. fishes brought back by Spix and Martius from their celebrated journey to Brazil, undertaken in 1817-20, on the occasion of the marriage of Dom Pedro the First. For a long time Professor Agassiz had wished to visit Brazil on a scientific expedition; hut to do this effectually he would require a corps of trained assistants, and large means both for the expenses of travelling and for preserving the collections made on the way, and he saw no possibility of providing for such an undertaking. The excursion would be a delightful one, but, single-handed and without sufficient means, he could make but little use of the opportunities which were before him.'While he was pondering over his difficulties he met Mr. Nathaniel Thayer, of Boston, who had always been a most generous fiiend of the MIuseum, and he immediately introduced the subject, asking Professor Agassiz what he should require to make the proposed journey according to his wishes. On learning the Professor's views on the subject he said: "Take six assistants with you, and I will be responsible for all their expenses." It may be added that TIHE THAYER EXPEDITION TO BRAZIL proved longer and much more costly than was at first anticipated, and Mr. Thayer not only provided for all the expenses, both personal and scientific, of these six assistants, but until the last specimen was stored in the Mluseum he continued to advance whatever sums were needed for the expedition. ZMr. Allen McLane, President of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, on hearing of Professor Agassiz's wish to visit Brazil, had invited Mrs. Agassiz and himself to make the voyage on board the steamship Colorado. On learning that the plan had taken the form of a scientific expedition. he at once enlarged his hospitality to suit the case, and offered to the whole party, now consisting of sixteen persons, free passage on hoard the magnificent steamer just then starting for the Pacific Coast. The invitation was most gratefully accepted. They arrived in 11 Rio Janeiro on the 23d of April, and Professor Agassiz says in his Report to the Trustees of the Museum: — " The Brazilian Expedition, fitted out and sustained by individual generosity, was treated as a national undertaking, and welcomed by a national. hospitality. Fr6m the moment of our landing in Rio de Janeiro the government offered me every facility for my undertaking. Nor was this an empty civility. We found ourselves guests in every public conveyance, and our large collections were constantly transported free of freight. On our arrival at Para the Amazonian Steamship Company placed a fine steamer, furnished with everything needed by the whole party, at my disposition for one month. Returning somewhat later from the Upper Amazons, I found a steamer of war awaiting me at the mouth of the Rio Negro, which had been sent up by order of the Emperor for my use during the remainder of my stay in the waters of the Amazons. Nor was this all. Canoes and men were provided for me whenever I required them; and wherever I arrived, I found that directions had been given to the local authorities to furnish me with whatever I required for my scientific objects. With such facilities, it is not strange that we should have made larger collections than have ever been got together in the same time before. With a corps of six assistants, already trained in the work of the Museum, and our party being also strengthened by the addition of six volunteer assistants, I was able to lay out a scheme for a thorough exploration of large tracts of country in Brazil, parts of which had not yet been visited by zoologists." We have not space to follow Professor Agassiz and his party through all their wanderings in Brazil. During the few weeks passed in and about Rio Janeiro, on first arriving, all the members of the expedition were engaged in collecting the natural products of the sea and adjoining country, - making excursions in various directions to obtain as complete a knowledge as possible of the characteristic fauna of the province of Rio de Janeiro, - following the Dom Pedro Railroad, and making geological surveys along its route, - collecting fishes ill the Rio Parahyba, and visiting the more accessible portions of the adjoining province of Minas Geraes. In the mean time Professor Agassiz was making preparations for the expeditions he intended to send into the interior. This was no light task; for in a country where there are no established means of internal communication, and where mules, guides, camaradas, and even an armed escort, may be necessary, and must be provided for in advance, the preparation for a journey through the interior requires a vast deal of forethought. One of the principal objects during the whole journey was to secure accurate information concerning the geographical distribution of the aquatic animals throughout the regions that were visited. Upon this 12 subject there was little precise knowledge, -even the best known among the fishes, reptiles, etc. of the Brazilian waters being entered in zological records simply as living in Brazil, or more generally as found in South America. As the distribution of species lies at the very foundation of the question of their origin, Professor Agassiz wished to ascertain as far as possible what were the areas and limits of their localization. With this view parties were sent off to explore the headwaters of the Rio Doce, Rio Mucury, Rio Jequitinhonha, Rio das Velhas, and Rio San Francisco, in the interior of Brazil, while others were examining the lower course of these rivers along the Atlantic coast. The party which started together for the interior, Messrs. St. John, Allen, Ward, and Sceva, divided their forces after a time. l1r. Sceva remained in the vicinity of Lagoa Santa, to seek for fossil remains in the regions made famous by the researches of Dr. Lund, and afterwards returned to the province of Rio de Janeiro, establishing himself at Canta-Gallo, where he made a large collection of skeletons. Mr. Ward extended his journey across the whole continent to Para, passing from the middle course of the Rio San Francisco into the basin of the Tocantins, which he descended to the Amazons.:Mr. St. John passed from the San Francisco into the basin of the Parnahyba, which he followed as far as Theresia, whence he crossed to Caxias, followed the valley of Piauhy to Maranham on the coast, and finally joined Professor Agassiz at Para. Mr. Allen left his companions at the San Francisco, and returned across the country to Bahia, taking the collections under his charge. During this time Messrs. Hartt and Copeland undertook an entirely different exploration in the eastern portions of the province of Rio de Janeiro, Spiritu Santo, and the southern part of the province of Bahia. Their collections were large, and Mr. Hartt's geological report was exceedingly interesting.* W~hen Professor Agassiz had finished all the necessary arrangements for starting these expeditions, he prepared for his own journey up the coast to Para, and from there up the Amazons. His departure was delayed, however, on account of the steamer having been taken by the government to convey troops to the seat of war,- the war with Paraguay being at its height at that time, - and he did not leave Rio Janeiro until the 25th of July, three months after his arrival fiom New York. The party who were to accompany Professor Agassiz were - One of the direct results of the expedition is a volume from Mr. Hartt on the physical geography and geology of Brazil; and he is still following up his researches there, having just returned from a new exploration, bringing with him very important collections and valuable additions to our knowledge of the regions he has visited. 13 Messrs. James, Dexter, Hunnewell, Thayer, and Burkhardt; * to these were added Mr. Bourget, a French naturalist established in Rio Janeiro, whose services Professor Agassiz engaged as preparator during his residence in the region of the Amazons, and also Major Coutinho, a young Brazilian officer belonging to the corps of engineers, and detailed by the Emperor to accompany the expedition. The assistance of Major Coutinho was invaluable throughout the journey, as he had been engaged for several years in explorations on the Amazonian rivers, and was also well acquainted with the language of the natives. The expedition arrived at Para, at the mouth of the River Amazons, on the 11th of August, the steamer having touchled at Bahia, Pernambuco, Ceara, ~Maranham, and other ports oil the coast. On the 20th of August Professor Agassiz started on his long-wishedfor trip up the Amazons. Subjoined is a brief paragraph from his own report:" Once in the waters of the great river, I divided my forces in order to survey simultaneously various parts of this vast fresh-water system, wishing to ascertain how far the distribution of its inhabitants was local, or whether the same species might be found at the same moment in diffirent parts of the main stream and its tributaries. This precaution led to results which amazed,he, though I was in part prepared for it by my knowledge of other aquatic faunme. Not only did I find the number of species in these waters exceeding by thousands all former estimates, but I found their localization so precise and definite that new combinations occurred at given intervals alone the main stream, while every forest lake and all the lesser watercourses had their special faunve. I neglected no opportunity of verifying the accuracy of my results, visiting the same regions at different seasons of the year, repeating my collections that I might have the fullest means of comparison, and, as I have said, stationing my parties at considerable distances in order that, by making simultaneous collections, we should ascertain what was the range of the species. All my young friends - and those I had with me on the Amazons were chiefly volunteer assistants- gave me most hearty and efficient co-operation. Besides rendering much important aid in the general work, and making special collecting excursions on the Rio Tapajos and the Rio Negro, Mr. Dexter prepared a very valuable collection of birds. In his voyage up th River Tapajos he was accompanied by Messrs. James and Talisman; on that of the Rio Negro by Mr. Talisman alone. Mr. James, in company with Mr. Talisman, ascended the River Iqa and the River Yutahy, and brought down very valuable additions to our fishes, while -* Mr. Burkhardt, the artist of the Expedition, and Professor Agassiz's friend and companion for many years, died shortly after his return to this country, from a disease which, though not contracted in Brazil, was no doubt aggravated by the hot climate of the Amazons, and by his devotion to the work he had undertaken, and which he could not be persuaded to relinquish even after his health was seriously impaired. 14 Mr. Bourget at the same time was employed in making collections in the River Yavary and the Solimoens about Tabatinga. Besides these special excursions, all my assistants, including Mr. Thayer and Mr. Hunnewell, had their separate stations at different times, and made very important local collections, - Messrs. James and Hunnewell at Obydos, Messrs. Thayer and Bourget at Cudajas, Mr. James at Manacapuru, Mr. Bourget at Santarem. To Mr. Hunnewell, beside his general assistance as a member of the working corps, I am indebted for a series of photographic portraits of Indians and of the various cross-breeds arising between Indians, whites, and blacks, taken by him at Manaos. Mr. Thayer was also very successful in collecting at Serpa and at Lago Alexo. Although zoological research and the forming of collections for the Museum were the chief objects of my journey, I also made as complete a geological survey of the valley of the Amazons as was possible under the circumstances. As my results in this direction do not, however, especially affect the interests of the Museum, I need enter into no details concerning them here. I should, however, add that I made the largest collection ever brought together of palm woods and fruits, bringing away many complete stems of palm-trees, or, where this was not possible, fragments large enough to show their structure, and preserving the fruits in alcohol. This is especially valuable in a Comparative Museum like ours, inasmuch as we seek to combine the past history of the organic world with its present condition, and there is no family of plants now existing so illustrative of the ancient forests as the palms and tree-ferns." A full account of this most interesting trip was published, after the return of the expedition to the United States, under the title of " A Journey in Brazil," by Professor and Mrs. Louis Agassiz, to which we refer our readers for further information concerning the trip up the Amazons. The time expended on this journey was about eight months. Professor Agassiz returned to Para on the 4th of February, 1866. He passed nearly six weeks at Para and in the vicinity, studying the geological formation of the entrance to the river. All great rivers, as the Nile, the Mississippi, the Ganges, the Danube, have their deltas; but the largest river in the world, the Amazons, is an exception to this rule. What, then, is the geological character of the great island of MIarajo, which obstructs its opening into the ocean? This was a question of great interest to Professor Agassiz, and he has given his answer in the Report of his Journey, where he shows it to be no delta, but a " cut off" from the drift of the valley. On the 26th of March they left Para and went down the coast to Ceara. Professor Agassiz's object in stopping here was to satisfy himself by direct investigation of the former existence of glaciers in this province, and, if possible, to find some traces of the southern 15 lateral moraine, marking the limit of the mass of ice which he supposes to have filled the Amrazonian basin in the glacial period. In the Amazonian Valley itself he had seen that all the geological phenomena are connected with the close of the glacial period, with the melting of the ice and the immense fre.shets consequent upon its disappearance. Indeed, the valley of the Amazons is the counterpart of our western prairie, only submerged to a great extent at the present time. On leaving the Amazons, the next step in the investigation was to seek the masses of loose materials left by the glacier itself. The time fIr so important a task was very shlort, but Professor Agassiz was well pleased with his investigations, for he found on the Serra of Aratanha the glacial phenomena as legible as he had found them twenty-five years before on the hills of Cumberland and Northumberland, of Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and more recently throughout New England. He says:"In the whole valley of Hasli there are no accumulations of morainic materials more characteristic than those I have found here. I hope that before long some members of the Alpine Club, thoroughly familiar with the glaciers of the Old World, not only in their present, but also in their past condition, will come to these mountains of Ceara and trace the outlines of their former glaciers more extensively than it has been possible fbr me to do in this short journey." THE RETURN. —- THE MUSEUM. On their return from this expedition in Northern Brazil they arrived in Rio de Janeiro at the end of April, and the remainder of their stay in Brazil was passed in revisiting the many places of interest in the neighborhood of Rio. Having received an invitation from Mr. C. K. Garrison, President of the Brazilian and North American Steamship Company, they took passage on board one of the fine steamers belonging to that company for the United States, in the summer of 1866, Professor Agassiz bringing with him a collection of Natural History from Brazil which added immensely to the wealth of the Mluseum; and for a long time he was constantly occupied in arranging these numerous specimens. He found, however, that the present building was altogether too small for even the proper storing of his lately acquired treasures, without any attempt to exhibit them. By far the most important part of the collections were packed away in barrels and boxes, rendering the use of specimens for study very laborious, owing to the loss of time in finding what was wanted. And as the whole available space, not only in the cellar and the working-rooms, but also in the exhibition-rooms, was occupied with unassorted collections, it was impossible to give to 16 the public the advantages for observation which was one of the earliest intentions of the Museum. In fact, the whole Museum was becoming a large storehouse rather than a well-arranged scientific collection. In reference to these difficulties, Professor Agassiz, in his annual report for the year 1867, said:" The general usefulness of the Museum is crippled by the limited room allotted to the public exhibition of the specimens. In order to heighten the scientific importance of the Museum I have from the beginning resisted the temptation of making it attractive to the many by putting up showy specimens, and devoted all the means of the Institution to increasing its purely scientific resources. But while this has greatly raised the intrinsic value of the collections, it may, in a measure, have perilled the popularity of the Museum; and it is time that something should be done to gratify the curiosity of the public, who have thus far generously approved the expenses incurred, and the appropriations made by the Legislature to help our establishment. This, however, cannot be done without considerable expense, as our building is totally inadequate to the proper exhibition of the collections stored in it at this moment. Until the northern wing is fully completed it will be impossible to begin a general systematic arrangement of all our scientific possessions. It is not asking too much that these collections should now be exhibited to the public, and I can truly say that were all our treasures fairly laid out, so that the whole could be seen at a glance by intelligent visitors, our citizens, when visiting similar institutions abroad, could with pride point out what Massachusetts has done for science, and confidently affirm that their MIuseum fears no comparisons." AN ELOQUENT REPORT. In 1868 the Legislature voted twenty-five thousand dollars a year for three years to the Museum, on condition that a similar sum should each year * be raised by subscription among private individuals, who were willing to assist in the cause of science. Professor Agassiz, in his report, says: — " This year has been a memorable one in the history of our Institution. When I prepared my report for the year 1867, it was under the depressing conviction that unless a large sum could be promptly obtained, the labor of years would be made of no avail, and the value of the materials collected in the Museum so impaired for want of the means essential to their preservation that they would become in a great degree useless. By the intelligent liberality of the Legislature, who took this matter into earnest and thoughtful consideration, and the generous co-operation of individuals, this danger is averted. I have never felt so hopeful of the future of the Institution which has so long been my care as now. "At the last meeting of the Board of Trustees a vote was passed devoting the seventy-five thousand dollars granted to the Museum by the Legislature * Called in the Appendix 1st, 2d, and 3d subscriptions. 17 of 1868 to the extension of the present building. While I rejoice in the prospect of this new building, as affording the means for a complete exhibition of the specimens now stored in our cellars and attics, and encumbering every room of the present edifice, I yet can hardly look forward to the time when we shall be in possession of it, without shrinking from the grandeur of our undertaking. The past history of our science rises before me with its lessons. Thinking men, in every part of the world, have been stimulated to grapple with the infinite variety of problems connected with the countless animals scattered without apparent order throughout sea and land. They have been led to discover the affinities of various degrees and different kinds which bind together this host of living beings. The past has yielded up its secrets, and has shown them that the animals now peopling the earth are but the successors of countless populations which have preceded them, and whose remains are buried in the crust of our globe. Further study has revealed relations between the animals of past time and those now living, and between the law of succession in the former and the laws of growth and distribution in the latter, so intimate and comprehensive that this labyrinth of organic life assumes the character of a connected history, which opens before us with greater clearness in proportion as our knowledge increases. But when the museums of the Old World were founded, these relations were not even suspected. The collections of Natural History, gathered at immense expense in the great centres of human civilization, were accumulated mainly as an evidence of man's knowledge and skill in exhibiting to the best advantage not only the animals, but products and curiosities of all sorts, from various parts of the world. While we admire and emulate the industry and perseverance of the men who collected these materials, and did in the best way the work which it was possible to do in their time for science, we have no longer the right to build museums after this fashion. The originality and vigor of one generation become the subservience and indolence of the next, if we do but repeat the work of our predecessors. They prepared the ground for us by accumulating the materials for extensive comparison and research. They presented the problem; we ought to be ready with the solution. If I mistake not, the great object of our museums should be to exhibit the whole animal kingdom as a manifestation of the Supreme Intellect. Scientific investigation in our day should be inspired by a purpose as animating to the general sympathy as was the religious zeal which built the Cathedral of Cologne or the Basilica of St. Peter's. The time is past when men expressed their deepest convictions by these wonderful and beautiful religious edifices; but it is my hope to see, with the progress of intellectual culture, a structure arise among us which may be a temple of the revelations written in the material universe. If this be so, our buildings for such an object can never be too comprehensive, for they are to embrace the infinite work of infinite wisdom. They can never be too costly, so far as cost secures permanence and solidity, for they are to contain the most instructive documents of Omnipotence." 2 18 CLOSE OF THE FIRST DECADE. In his report for the year 1869 Professor Agassiz says:"It is now ten years since, in 1859, the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge was organized. We have closed our first decade, and it seems, therefore, appropriate to review the work thus far accomplished, and to see where it has brought us. Beginning with very small means and scientific materials, the basis for which was chiefly the Gray fund and my private collection of specimens; hardly known at all abroad and attracting but little notice in those days at home, the Cambridge Museum occupies now a very honorable place among the prominent scientific institutions of the world. It is in no spirit of egotism that I, as Director of this establishment, speak thus of its present standing. But it is no more than fair that the Legislature of Massachusetts and the individuals who have so generously sustained this undertaking should know that their liberality has not been misapplied. Familiar as I am with the history of museums, it is an astonishment and a gratification to me to find that in this short time we have attained a position which brings us into the most intimate relations with the first museums of Europe; we have a system of exchanges with like establishments over the whole world; while the activity of original research in our Institution, and its well-sustained publications, the possibility of which we owe to the liberality of the Legislature, make it one of the acknowledged centres of scientific progress. Nor is this all. Men of high scientific standing in Europe are tempted to come and join us on the moderate salaries we are able to give, for the pleasure of working up collections in some respects more complete and more interesting to the student than any now existing..... When our building was first put up, ten years ago, it was thought sufficient, and I myself then deemed it large enough, for the needs of the establishment. But so great has been the increase of our collections since that time that at this moment the museum overflows from garret to cellar; there is hardly room to move between the boxes, barrels, and temporary shelves put up for the accommodation of specimens, and with the utmost economy of space it is almost impossible for our daily increasing number of workers to proceed with their labors. Indeed, many most important and interesting features of the Museum must be ignored till we have more room, - as, for instance, the large and perfectly unique collection of palms and tree-ferns, with flowers and fruits preserved in alcohol, one of the most valuable results of the Thayer Expedition..... The same is true of many other collections of equal interest in our Museum, - as, for example, that of the fishes from the Amazons and other parts of Brazil. But a very small portion of the rich harvest from the Thayer Expedition has as yet been seen by the public." THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE MUSEUM. We have thus followed the course of the Museum from its early beginning with the donation of Mr. Francis C. Gray and the private collec 19 tion of Professor Agassiz until the present time, when it may claim to rank among the foremost institutions of its kind; for although the British Museum in London and the Jardin des Plantes in Paris are on a very much larger scale, yet in certain: departments, such as corals, echinoderms, and fishes, the Museum of Comparative Zoology is superior to both, while the increase of its collections since its existence, and the prominence it has attained among other museums, is such as no like establishment has reached in the same time and with the same means. One word more respecting the collections of the Museum as they appear at present, and the intended arrangement when the new building, now in course of erection, is completed. From want of space the greater part of the Museum as it now exists is occupied by working-rooms and store-rooms, and only four rooms are devoted to exhibition. Each of these contains the representatives of one great division of the animal kingdom, and it is intended to complete them in such a manner that they shall exhibit in an easy and conspicuous way the natural relations of all the animals known in creation. In the new building now going up - which adjoins the present museum, and is to be of equal dimensions -it is intended to exhibit all the animals peculiar to the different parts of the world in such a manner as to impress the observer with their actual association in nature, so that the student of Natural History shall be able to make himself familiai' in one part of the building with the latest result of scientific research in working out the system of thoughts which bind together the whole animal kingdom as a unit; while in the other part of the building the geographical distribution of animals upon the whole surface of the earth, and their various combinations and associations in different continents will be made apparent. Such a twofold arrangement of collections has never yet been attempted in any museum, not even in the largest and most prominent institutions of the kind in Europe. The fossil remains of past ages will be exhibited in like manner in such a way as to display at the same time their order of succession in geological periods and their relations to the animals now living. It is intended to complete this plan by exhibiting also the different stages of growth of all known animals, from their earliest period of development in the egg to their adult condition. The plan of the Director is, in short, to make the Museum illustrate the history of creation, as far as the present state of scientific knowledge reveals that history; but although the addition to the Museum will double the amount of room, the whole of this scheme cannot be carried out at present, and a large part of the collections must still remain in the store-rooms until another section of the building can be completed. 20 THE MUSEUM AS AN EDUCATIONAL INS'TItIONo. Such is the present condition of the Museum, looked upon simply as a collection of objects of Natural History, brought together not as an accumulation of curiosities, but combined with reference to a comprehensive idea, and intended to stimulate original research and to give the student of Nature such abundant materials as have never before been provided for comparison and investigation. But what has it done for general education? This is a question which its founders and supporters may fairly put. It may be answered that in giving to naturalists rare opportunities for study, in training the few exceptional men who care to devote their whole lives to a pursuit so unremunerative as that of Natural History, it is fostering general culture and aiding in the great work of education. But this is a distant and indirect way of influencing the community; it neither can nor ought to satisfy the men who established the Museum. Natural History, at least as far as it relates to agricultural pursuits, ought indeed to be taught in every public school. But no beginning can be made before teachers are prepared, and there is now too little encouragement given them to engage in the study. The introduction of text-books on Natural History into the schools, from which pupils may be made to recite to teachers who know little of the subject, would be worse than useless; for it would kill the spirit of observation, which the study of Nature eminently fosters. It should, therefore, be generally known that from the very beginning the Director has made it one of the chief aims of the Institution to educate young men, not only as students of Nature, but as teachers also, and that the Museum of Comparative Zoilogy affords the best opportunity in the country for this kind of preparation. From its laboratories there have already gone out a large number of trained workers, now established as professors, or explorers, or directors of scientific institutions. Among these may be mentioned Dr. Wmin. iStimpson, Director of the Academy of Sciences of Chicago, Professor J. LeConte of the University of California, Professor Clarke of the University of Kentucky, Professor Verrill of Yale College, Professor HIartt of Cornell University, Professor Morse of Bowdoin College, Mr. Putnam, Director of the Peabody Museum in Salem, Professor Packard of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, S. H. Scudder, late Custodian of the Boston Society of Natural. History, Professor -Hyatt of the Institute of Technology, Orestes H. St. John, officer of the Iowa Geological Survey, Professor Tenney of Williamstown College, W. H. Niles of the Teachers' Institute and-others. To these should 21 be added the names of several teachers and investigators who, although their scientific education has not been wholly received at the Museum of Comparative Zoilogy, have studied there for a longer or shorter time under the direction of Professor Agassiz. Such are Mr. Cyrus Warren now Professor of Chemistry in the Technological Institute, Professor Kerr, Superintendent of the Geological Survey of North Carolina, Professor Chandler of the Mining School of New York, Mr. Wing, Professor of Chemistry in Cornell University. Professor Elder of Acadia College, Nova Scotia, Professor Dimond, Fish Commissioner of New Hampshire, Professor Hills of Dennison College, Ohio, etc., were also pupils of the Museum under Professor Shaler, — not to mention many others who have been for a shorter time connected with the Institution. Many of the most efficient officers and assistants of the Museum itself are men who owe to it their scien. tific education, as Professor N. S. Shaler, Mr. Theodore Lyman, Mr. Alexander Agassiz, Mr. J. A. Allen, and others. There are sad blanks in these lists; names of young men who would, no doubt, have been life-long friends and efficient co-workers in the Institution. Such were Bowditch and Shurtleff, promising students who left their scientific work for a higher duty, and died in the war; and since then, Dr. Wheatland and the younger Horace Mann, two of its most valuable assistants, have also passed away. These were all men trained as special students; but Professor Agassiz has constantly had in view a more general educational scheme. With this aim he has amassed duplicate specimens from every branch of the animal kingdom in such numbers as would enable him not only to enter upon the largest system of exchanges with all existing museums, but to make distinct systematic collections for the purfpose of teaching, and prepare for the use of young and inexperienced students a series of specimens such as even well-trained and competent naturalists would be glad to obtain for study. It is to this wealth of material, not to be found even in the first museums of Europe, that he looks as affording the means of ever-increasing usefulness to the Institution. Up to the present year, while a certain number of students have always been trained in the laboratories, and lectures on Geology, Zoology, and Palaeontology, with free attendance for all, have been constantly given in the lecture-room of the Museum, it has been difficult to organize large classes of students for private instruction on account of the want of room. Notwithstanding this difficulty, which still remains as great as ever, by a certain ingenuity in the arrangements, and by sacrificing a large part of the lecture-room, space has been cleared this year for 22 the accommodation of a number of students from the University who have elected Natural History as their favorite study. The general plan of instruction for these classes has been organized by Professor Shaler, who has undertaken the entire charge of this department. There are now between forty and fifty students working in the Museum, most of them under his direction. In consideration of this more direct co-operation with the University, the Corporation of Harvard College has assumed the larger portion of the salary of Mr. Shaler, and has also provided an assistant teacher, Mr. Tuttles, who gives lessons to the same classes in the use of the microscope. The plan of Mr. Shaler is one in harmony with the whole spirit of instruction already established in the Institution; namely, that of excluding textbooks, which, as a general thing, lead to the indolence of teachers and the intellectual extinction of scholars, and substituting for them the objects themselves; making the specimen in the student's hand his teacher, assisting him only with such oral instruction and explanation as may be necessary to prevent him from becoming discouraged in his task. By this method the pupil learns from nature and not from books, and his acquirements are the result of observation, not merely an effort of memory. The teacher is also stimulated by the questions constantly suggested or asked, and is kept up to the progress of investigation, while text-books are constantly falling behind the actual state of scientific knowledge. It may be asked of what use these studies are to men not intending to be professional naturalists. The answer in detail would be a long one, and.would show that there are more points of contact between science and commerce and professional pursuits than is generally supposed. But without reference to what is called the practical side of the question, a knowledge of the structure of the earth on which he lives, of the beings by which he is surrounded, of the thousand processes by which Nature works in her hidden laboratories, is of use to any intelligent, thoughtful man. It may be added that the mental training through which the naturalist passes will do good service in any department of life. The methods of study by which nicety of discrimination, readiness of comparison, power of detecting and classifying resemblances and differences are obtained, are of universal application. The man who has had these faculties fairly developed will never think that the time he spent in acquiring them was lost or ill applied. The Museum is thus daily both by securing for itself a place among the recognized centres of scientific research and by associating itself with the immediate practical interests of education, making good its 23 claim upon the State. It is sincerely to be hoped that the strong interest which has already been shown by the Legislature of Massachusetts and our own citizens will not flag, and that sufficient aid will be given to carry out and fully complete this admirable work within the lifetime of the distinguished man who has done so much to elevate the tone of thought, and improve the method of education in this, his adopted country. PRESENT CONDITION OF THE BUILDING. The plans appended to this general statement will show the present state of the Museum building. The appropriation of the Legislature of the two past years has been devoted to enlarging the edifice. The Director had thought that with this sum the north wing might be finished, this being all he has ever hoped to see completed during his own lifetime; but the means have proved insufficient, and the utmost that could be done (the whole building having been originally planned in sections so as to provide for its increase) was to add two fifths of the north wing to the two fifths already standing, leaving the final fifth to be added at some future time. Even for this partial success the Museum is greatly indebted to Mr. John H. Thorndike, who by his advice and supervision as to the mode of building, and the making of contracts, etc., has rendered it possible to complete this addition with all the economy consistent with solidity and thoroughness. His services have been freely given and have been invaluable. We are further indebted to Mr. R. H. Slack for his faithful supervision of the work, and for the plans which accompany this pamphlet. It is but justice to add that the manner in which Mr. Ebenezer Johnson is carrying out his contract for the building is highly satisfactory. It now becomes a question of great anxiety to the Director and to all the friends of the Institution how the means are to be provided for the most complete and useful exhibition and arrangement of the collections in the new building. As it is, but a small part of them can be fairly presented; and even this partial execution of the plan calls for an expenditure which will drain the permanent resources of the Institution. We have thus presented the difficulties of the case, trusting that the Legislature will take them into consideration, since they are entailed upon the Museum by the very success which entitles it to their continued care. 24 APPENDIX. PRINCIPAL DONATIONS, IN MONEY, TO TIlE MItSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. Allen, Freeman, subscription of 1859.. 100.00 Amory, Chas.,,,,,..... 100.00 Amory, Wm.,,,,,.... $200.00,,,, 1 st subscription..... 500.00 r,, r d,, 2d,,. 500.00 1,200.00 Andrews, Wm. T., subscription of 1859..... 1,000.00 Appleton, Nathan,,,,,.. 2,000.00 Appleton, Saml. A.,,,,,...... 500.00 Appleton, Wm.,,,,,..... 1,000.00 Bacon, D. G. and W. B.,,,,,.... 150.00 Bacon, Francis,,,,,... 100.00 Barnard, James M.,,,,,. 1,000.00,,,,,, collection.... 100.00,,,,,, arranging collections 500.00,,,,,, 1st subscription.... 1,000.00,,,,,, 2d,,.... 1,000.00 3,600.00 Bates, Benjamin E., 2d subscription 1,000.00 Bartlett,. Sidney,,,,,..... 500.00 Beale, J. II., subscription of 1859.... 100.00 Bigelow, G. T.,,,... 100.00,,,,,, ist subscription.300.00 400.00 Bigelow, Jacob, subscription of 1859....... 1,000.00 Blake, George Baty,,,,,....... 100.00 ($ 500). See Humboldt Scholarship. Blanchard, J. A., subscription of 1859.... 50.00 Boardman, B. G.,,,,,. 500.00 Bradlee, James Bowdoin,,,,,... 100.00 Bradlee, Josiah,,,,, 1,000.00 Brewer, G.,,,,,..1. 1,000.00,,,, 1st subscription. 1,000.00 2,000.00 Brimmer, M., subscription of 1859..... 1,000.00,,,, 2d subscription..... 1,000.00,,,, 3d,,...... 1,000.00 3,000.00 Brimmer, Miss, subscription of 1859... 1,000.00. Brooks, P. C.,,,,,.. 500.00 Brooks, Peter C., Jr.,,,,,.... 1,000.00 Brooks, S., 1st subscription.... 500.00 Amount carried forward $ 22,500.00 Amount brought forward $22,500.00 Bullard, Wm. S.,...500.00 Cabot, Henry, subscription of 1859... 100.00 Callender, George,,,,,..... 100.00 Cary, Thomas G.,,,,, 1,000.00,,,,,, donation.300,00 1,300.00 Chadbourne, Prof. P A., donation..100.00 Coolidge, T. J., 1st subscription.250.00 Crocker, Uriah, subscription of 1859 50.00 Cushing, John P.,,,,, 2,000.00 Dana, Farrar, & Hyde,,,,, 150.00 Davis, J. Amory,,,, 100.00 Davis, James, donation, 1864 250.00 Davis, James, Jr., subscription of 1859 200.00 200.00 Denny, Daniel,,,,,.. 100.00 Durant, H. F.,,,,,. 100.00 Edmands, J. W.,,,,...... 100.00 Endicott, Mr., donation, 1861...32.00 Evans, Wm., subscription of 1859..... 100.00 Everett, Edward,,,,,.. 200.00 Fay, R. S., Jr.,,,,,... 100.00 Fishers and Chapin,,,.. 100.00 Fletcher, Richard,,,,...... 100.00 Forbes, J. M., 2,000.00 Forbes, Mrs. J. M., 1st subscription.. 500.00 2d,, 500.00 1,000.00 French, Jonathan, subscription of 1859. 100.00 Frothingham, N. L.,,,,,..100.00 Gardner, John L.,,,,,. 500.00 Goodwin, Ozias,,,,. 500.00 Gorham, J. L.,,,,,.... 150.00 Grant, Moses,,,,, 50.00 Gray, Francis C., bequest.. 50,000.00 Gray, John C., subscription of 1859..1,000.00 Greene, B. D.,,,,.300.00 Greene, Miss Sara,,,,... 500.00 Greenough, W. W., and others, donations, 1861.. 1,850.00 Grew, Henry, subscription of 1859.. 300.00 Guild, James,,,,,.. 100.00 Harvard College, Land for Museum valued in 1859 at about 18,000.00,,,, for support of collections, before 1861.. 8,130.00,,,, balance of Professor Agassiz's collection in 1853, -see Thomas H. Perkins and others 1,825.00 27,955.00 Haven, Franklin, subscription of 1859. 500.00 Amount carried forward $115,437.00 26 Amount brought forward $115,437.00 Hall, A. T., subscription of 1859...... 50.00 Hardy, Alpheus,,,,,.. 100.00 Heard, J. T.,,,,,. 100.00 Heard, J. Theo.,,,,,...... 100.00 Hemenway, Aug.,,,,,.1,000.00 Hemenway, Mrs. Aug., 1st subscription.... 2,000.00 2d,,. 1,000.00,3d,,.. 1,000.00,,,,,, a collection of Insects. 2,300.00 6,300.00 Hooper, N., subscription of 1859.... 100.00 Humboldt Fund, raised by the Boston Society of Natural History, at the Centennial Celebration. SUBSCRIBERS. Geo. Baty Blake, Wm. Claflin, Jas. M. Barnard, Geo. Ticknor, Gardner Brewer, W. E. Baker, Geo. C. Richardson, Geo. C. Lord, Jas. L. Little, Ehen D. Jordan, N. Paine, Eliza S. Quincy, Robert W. Hooper, Geo. B. Hyde, Wm. Munroe, H. W. Williams, M. P. Wilder, Eben Dale, Jacob Bigelow, Theron J. Dale, Jos. S. Ropes, Alex. H. Rice, S. Powell, W. D. Pickman, J. F. HIunnewell, Charles Deane, H. P. Kidder, N. B. Shurtleff, Wm. Endicott, Jr., J. M. Manning, W. R. Robeson, Geo. W. Gibbs, E. F. Shaw, Geo. W. Warren, John Bacon, Geo. W. Wales, John A. Lowell, F. M. Johnson, J. C. Hoadley, L. B. Harrington, C. M. Warren, D. N. Skillings, J. H. Thorndike, E. B. Phillips, T. Gaffield, Fogg, Houghton, & Coolidge, G. H. Kuhn, John B. Alley, S. R. Urbino, Warren Sawyer, John Gardner, Joseph Souther, Mrs. J. E. Lodge, Webster & Co., W. T. Andrews, F. S. Merritt, R. C. Waterston, E. J. Young, G. B. Emerson, Geo. Lawton, Stephen Salisbury, J. B. Bright, Mrs. G. H. Shaw, J. J. May, H. B. Rogers, E. B. Bigelow, W. B. Spooner, Amos A. Lawrence, E. R. Mudge, Abbott Lawrence, S. Hooker, Hon. Wm. Greene, Ben. S. Rotch, R. B. Forbes, Francis Dana, C. L. Flint. These subscriptions, with the proceeds of Professor Agassiz's Address, made the sum of.7,040.00 Amount carried forward $130,227.00 27 Amount brought forward $130,227.00 Hooper, S., subscription of 1859... 2,000.00,,,, 2d subscription.1,000.00,,,, 3d,,.... 1,000.00 4,000.00 Hovey, George 0., subscription of 1859..... 200.00 Howe, J. C.,,,,,. 200.00 Hunnewell, H. H., 2d subscription... 1,000.00 Inches, Misses, 2d subscription. 300.00 Jewell, Harvey, donation for a library, 1861.. 300.00 King, Edward, (N. Y.,) subscription of 1859..... 25.00 Kuhn, G. Harvey,,,,,..... 100.00 Larkin, Stackpole, & Co.,,,,,.. 100.00 Lawrence, Abbott,,,,,... 2,000.00,,,, donation, 1864.... 500.00 2,500.00 Lawrence, A. A., subscription of 1859.... 1,000.00 Lawrence, Abbott, Jr., 2d subscription...... 1,000.00 Lawrence, James, subscription of 1859 1,000.00 1,, Ist subscription.. 2,000.00,, 3d,,.1,000.00 4,000.00 Lawrence, Mrs. Abbott, subscription of 1859... 2,000.00 Lee, Henry,,,,,..... 100.00 Lee, Henry, Jr.,,,,,... 100.00 Lincoln, Ezra,,,,,..... 100.00 Little, James L., 2d subscription.... 1,000.00,,,,,, 3d,,. 1,000.00 2,000.00 Lodge, Dr. G. H., subscription of 1859..... 100.00 Lodge, Mrs. J. E., donation.. 1,000.00,,,,,, 2d subscription. 1,000.00 2,000.00 Lombard, Israel, subscription of 1859..100 00 Loring, Charles G.,,,,,... 100.00 Loring, Miss Abby M.,,,,,. 500.00 Loring, Mrs. Elijah,,,,,. 500.00 Lyman, G. W., and others, for alcohol..150.00 Lyman, Theodore, subscription of 1859. 2,000.00,,,, for salaries.. 6,000.00,,,, for casts.. 100.00,,,, for alcohol.... 160.00,,,, 1 st subscription. 2,000.00,,,, 2d,,... 1,000.00,,,, 3d,,. 2,000.00 13,260.00 Amount carried forward $165,962.00 28 Amount brought forward $165,962.00 Lowell, John A., 1st subscription. 2,000.00,, 2,,2d,.. 2,000.00,,,,,, d,,.. 1,000.00 5,000.00 Mason, Win. P., subscription of 1859.. 1,000.00 Massachusetts, State of, Grant from sales of State Lands, 1860... 100,000.00,,,,.,, Grant for Collections,.. 20,000.00,, Catalogue Fund,... 10,000.00,,,,,,.1868, Grant... 10,000.00,,,,,, 1869, 1st Conditional Grant. 25,000.00,, 1870, 2d,,,,. 25.000.00 190,000.00 Matthews N., 1st subscription.750.00 2d,,250.00 1,000.00 May, John J., subscription of 1859.100.00 May, Saml.,,,,,.... 50.00 Milton, Wm. H.,,,,,. 50.00 Minot, G. R.,,,,,......100.00 Minot, Win.,,,,,.. 100.00 Mudge, E. R., 2d subscription..... 1,000.00 "N. N." by Jas. Lawrence, subscription of 1859.... 300.00 N. N.,,,.... 50.00 SUBSCRIBERS FOR THE PURCHASE OF PROFESSOR AGASSIZ'S COLLECTION OF NATURAL HISTORY, IN 1853. See Harvard College. Thomas H. Perkins, S. Hooper, Jonathan Phillips, WVm. T. Andrews, Samuel Appleton, J. Davis, Jr., J. P. Cushing, Enoch Train, Robert G. Shaw, Geo. B. Upton, Jno. Eliot Thayer, P. C. Brooks, Geo. C. Shattuck, Franklin Haven, Wm. Sturgis, W. H. Prescott, T. W. Ward, J. W. Trull, Nathan Appleton, Edward Austin, Charles G. Loring, John D. Bates, Edward Everett, Henry Cabot, John L. Gardner, J. M. Forbes, W. W. Boardman, J. J. Dixwell, Thomas Lee, Benj. D. Greene, Thomas B. Curtis, Fr. Skinner, Francis C. Lowell, Wm. F. Weld, W. S. Bullard, B. B. Muzzey, A. Heard, Chas. C. Little, N. Thayer, Jared Sparks, Ozias Goodwin, Paschal P. Pope, A. Hemenway, Wm. Rodman, Francis Peabody, Wm. Sawyer, W. D. Pickman, A. A. Lawrence, M. Brimmer, A. T. Hall. 10,175.00 Amount carried forward $ 374,887.00 Amount brought forward $374,887.00 Parker, H., subscription of 1859. 50.00 Parker, James,,,,,....... 200.00 Parkman, G. F.,,,,,50000,,,,,'2d subscription 500.00 1,000.00 Perkins, William, subscription of 1859...... 100.00 Peters, G. H.,,,,,...... 50.00 Phillips, Jonathan,,,,,...... 2,000.00 Pickman, W. D., 2d subscription...... 500.00 Pierce, T. W., subscription of 1859.... 100.00 Pope, Paschal P.,,,,,...... 500,00 Pratt, Miss Mary,,,,... 1,000.00 Pratt, Miss SaraP.,,,,....... 1,000.00 Prescott and Chapin,,,,,....... 50.00 Quincy, Josiah,,,......... 500.00 Reed, Alfred A.,,,,,....... 200.00 Richardson, George C., 2d subscription...... 1,000.00 Richardson, Jeffrey, subscription of 1859...... 500.00 Rogers, H. B.,,,,,..... 1,000.00 Russell, George R.,,,,.. 200.00 Russell, Mrs. G. R., donation, 1864..... 3,000.00,,,,,,,, 1st subscription..... 200.00,,,,,,,, 2d ".... 500.00 3,700.00 Salisbury, Stephen, subscription of 1859.1,000.00 Sanders, Charles,,,,, 1,000.00 Sargent, Geo. B.,,,,,.500.00 Sayles, Mrs. M. F.,,,,,.1,000.00 Sears, David,,,,,... 1,000.00 Shaler, Professor N. S., for a collection...... 100.00 Shaw, G. H., subscription of 1859... 1,000.00 Shaw, Mrs. G. H.,,,,,..... 500.00,,,,, 1st subscription. 2,000.00,,,,,,,,2d.. 1,000 00,,,,,,,3d,,. 2,000.00 5,500.00 Shaw, Miss M. L., 2d subscription.. 200.00 Shaw, Mrs. R. G., subscription of 1859. 300.00,,,,,,,, 2d subscription.500.00 800.00:Shaw, Q. A., donation, 1861.. 1,000.00 Shimmin, C. F., subscription of 1859... 50.00 Shimmin, Thos.,,,,,..50.00 Simmons, John,,,,,.100.00 Skinner, F.,,,,. 500.00 Stearns, John, Jr.,,,,,....... 100.00 Amount carried forward $ 402,437.00 30 Amount brought forward $402,437.00 Sturgis, Henry P., subscription of 1859 200.00 Sturgis, Wm.,,,,,..... 2,000.00 Swift, Wm. H.,,,,,...... 100.00 Thayer, Nathaniel,,, 5,000.00,,,, Thayer Expedition to Brazil, in 1865 22,652.00,,,, Advanced for arranging the collection 4,157.00,,,, For salaries and support of students from 1865 to 1870.. 7,489.00,,,,, 1st subscription 10,000.00,,,, 2d,,..... 5,000.00 3d,,.....5,000.00 59,298.00 Thompson, Newell A., subscription of 1859..100.00 Thwing, S. C.,,,,,...... 100.00 Ticknor, George,,,,,...... 1,000.00 Timmins, Henry,,,,,... 200.00 Trull, J. W.,,,,,...... 200.00 Tucker, W. W.,,,,..100.00 Wales, Miss Mary Ann,,,,,... 100.00 Wales, Mrs. Abby L.,,,,,..100.00 Wales, Thos. B.,,,,... 500.00 Ward, Saml. G.,,,,,. 1,000.00 Ware, John,,,,,.50.00 Warren, C. M., (N. Y.),,,,500.00 Waterston, Robert,,,,,.. 100.00 Whitney, H. A., 2d subscription.100.00 Whitney, Joseph, subscription of 1859.500.00 Wigglesworth, Edward,,,,,...... 3.0000 Wigglesworth, Thomas,,,,...100.00 Wigglesworth, Miss M.,,,,,.... 500.00 -,,,, A.,,,,,..... 500.00,, n:Misses, 2d subscription.... 500.00 1,500.00 Weld, Wm. F., subscription of 1859...... 1,000.00 Williams, D. W.,,,,...... 100.00 Williams, Moses,,,,,...... 1,000.00 Winchester, E. A. and W., subscription of 1859.. 500.00 Winthrop, Robert C.,,,,,..... 150.00 Wolcott, J. H.,,,,,. 200.00,,,,,, 2d subscription.... 300.00 500.00 Woodman, H., subscription of 1859.. 100.00 Total $ 473,935.00 Over four hundred and seventy-three thousand dollars may seem a large sum for a Museum of Natural History. But when it is remem 31 bered that such institutions are the standards by which the intellectual culture of a nation is measured, and that it is more difficult to raise such standards than even to increase the general wealth of the community, our total will appear small in comparison with the means employed to make money. What do our enterprising merchants think of a mill or a factory costing half a million of dollars or more? They multiply them all over the country beyond our ability to count them. Is it, then, too much to expect that one great Museum may be erected among us capable of containing a suitable representation of all the objects necessary for a correct appreciation of the plan of Creation —even if it should cost millions? May we not hope that when the nation celebrates the centennial anniversary of American Independence, such a Museum may be numbered among the recent achievements of the Republic? 32 EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. P1. I. - Faade of the north wing. The lower row of windows belongs to the basement; the second and third row to the first story and its gallery; the fourth and fifth row to the second story and its gallery; the upper row and the skylights to the attic. P1. II. - Represents the basement, which is devoted to the storing of duplicates and apparatus and to the temporary arrangement of such alcoholic collections as cannot, for the present, be put up in the exhibition-rooms. P1. III. - Plan of the first story. Devoted to the synthetic room, containing a summary exhibition of the whole animal kingdom; with work-rooms to the east and exhibition-rooms to the west, containing the domesticated animals and the collection of characteristic fossils. P1. IV. - Plan of the second story. The great central hall is devoted to a systematic exhibition of the Vertebrates, while the rooms to the east contain the Articulates, Mollusks, and Radiates, and the rooms to the west the faunae of North and South America and of Europe. P1. V. - Plan of the attic. The central room contains the large skeletons, whales, &c.; the rooms to the east are laboratories, with the library, the photographic apparatus, and the microscope room. On the west side are the fossil plants, with the collection of palms and treeferns, etc. The dotted lines on P1. II, III, IV, and V represent parts of the north wing not yet built. Rooms are still wanting for the faunal collections of the Arctics, and of Asia, Africa, and Australia, and for the fauna3 of the primordial, secondary, and tertiary geological periods. Plate 1. MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY, CAMBRIDGE, MASS..1-P B - J _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ F R-ONT ELEVATION OP THE NORTHERN WING. Plalte I. NACOH. FISHES IN ALCOHOL. I NN ALCOHOL. RECEIVING ROOM IN ALCOHOL. FISHES IN ALCOHOL FAUNACLLETN FAUNAL COLLECTIONS SYSTSYSTEMATC COLLECTION FANPTIALS I ALC-OHOL. FISHES IN ALCOHOL. RE PTI LES IN ALCOHOL. -FISHES IN ALCOHOL. I ECTFAUO N S FAUNAL COLLECTIONS GLASS ROOM SYSTEMATIC COLLECTION. SYSTEMATIC COLLECTION. i I -= BASEMENT Plate IAT. rt~i....__:_-__________________...._-_..? — -- - -- - -- - ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I i.'~~~ - PALEOZOIC GENERAL I SYNTHETIC WO R K I LIBRARY ANDI I~~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I II r-.FA U N,,~ ROO PALAEONTO LOGYI COLLECTION! FAUN/ - - - -D~ld -~nlll~nlnr~w l COLLECT ~ON i ~IROOM I,WORK ROOM ----------------------- -— __-_-,__- -__,, _,, j I I I I 1 - - --- _ I r —-------- I --------- I I UI CAR BON I FEROUS' D O M EST.I1C LECTURE WORK HI. A U I - AAUNAL AML S OFFICE HALL ROOM ROOM I — FIRST STORY' Plate 1.. -. —,:=== -—. ---—:_ — 1__1 _, I__.___ ___ _ _ n | ---- - i EUROPEAN I N ORTH AMERICAN r ISHES. SYSTE1MATf!C RTI CU LATES. FAUN 1 FAUNA-, COLLECTION' SY5TEMATIC COLLECIION _=-= —-- -= — - - - -== ===- MAM MAL A I SYSTEMATIC I "i -,_ _ ___ __,, _ _S COLLECTION ------------ --------------' —I i AFRICAN | IA SOUTH AMERICAN!' j | RAPIATES SYSTEMATIC | LLU$KS. SYSTEMAITlC i FA U N A_ FA U NG M+g C O LLE C T OI O N I CO LLECTION I —-- _ ---------- _ - -I -_-___ _ _ -___ _ —---------------- — _ — - -, —..................... —_-r ------ SECOND STORY Pla.te Y:'-= 1 I'VC: I I I a MESOZO IC [ M ESOZOIC PHOTOGRAPH [ MICROSCOPE FA U N A, F A U N A- ROOM ROOM ROOM'FFOR -------------------------- - t > S KE L ETDO S['~'~ TERTIARY FOSSIL WORKING WORKING ENTOMOLOGICAL FAUN, |F PLANTS | ROOM ROOM WORKING ROOM j W =I —- T _ __-,_ -_ ATTIC STORY AN ACCOUNT OF THE ORGANIZATION AND PROGRESS OF THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY AT HARVARD COLLEGE, IN CAMBRIDGE, MASS. CAMBRIDGE: WELCH, BIGELOW, AND COMPANY, UNIVERSITY PRESS. 1871. _ J