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ably had never seen a lantern. Everyone is used to handling kerosene lamps, and we knew that the teacher would know how to trim a lantern which burned kerosene oil. Later we found that electricity had so developed that there were electric plants in some small towns of only three or four or five hundred people; so we added both incandescent and arc lanterns. To-day we are using for the remote schools acetylene lights, which come with the compressed gas in a little tank that is so simple that a child can handle it. Kerosene has been done away with. At present we are circulating continually 15 lanterns and 30 cases, keeping two or three people busy in taking care of them.

In addition to writing new lectures on all kinds of subjects, we so adjust this matter that some person who is a little ahead of the others in a given township will arrange that one lantern will go into 5 or 8 or sometimes 10 schools, and yet be back to us in 15 days. We are also letting the churches have these lanterns.

ADMINISTRATIVE RELATIONS WITH SCHOOLS.

It is remarkable that the services of museums have been but tardily recognized by school authorities, although the high value of these services is now generally appreciated by leading educators.. That better administrative relations in this respect will come soon and rapidly seems assured. The extension centers of the Commercial Museum in Philadelphia, already mentioned, are the result of the investigation of a committee appointed by the district superintendents to examine into the work that the museum has been doing with the schools for 10 years without official recognition. The report of the committee led to a formal request from the superintendent of schools for affiliation.1

MUSEUM WORK FOR THE BLIND.

An interesting extension of museum work for the benefit of the blind is being successfully developed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. This was begun in an experimental way in 1909. In 1910 it was placed on a permanent basis through a bequest from Phebe Anna Thorne, known as the Jonathan Thorne Memorial. The income from this endowment enables the museum to send loan collections to schools for the blind in the vicinity of New York, to give illustrated lectures in the museums to blind children and adults, and to supply transportation for the blind and their guides to and from the museum.

During the past year plans for thorough organization of this work have matured, and it now occupies a prominent place in the annual educational program. A census of all the blind in and near New York City has been prepared with the assistance of the New York Association for the Blind and the New Jersey State Commission. Cards were sent to every blind person for return of information relating to occupation and hours of work, whether the person is able to attend

1 Proc. Am. Assoc. Mus., VIII, 1914, pp. 56-57..

afternoon or evening lectures, ability to secure a guide, and topics that would be of especial interest. This registration enables the museum to communicate directly with the blind people and to afford them the facilities most useful to them.

The objects lent to the schools for the blind include the regular school collections and ethnographical specimens selected according to the requests of the teachers. Indian or Eskimo clothing, implements, and toys arouse such interest that several of the children have written letters to the museum during the school year to express their pleasure in the collections. The material is selected, outside of its interest value, with regard to form, use, and durability under use, although the care exercised by the teachers is found effective in keeping the exhibits intact. The children are permitted to handle the specimens and thus to gain sense impressions and ideas that would otherwise be impossible to them.

Visits to the museum are also recognized as a part of the work of the schools for the blind and are made during school hours. The significance of these visits is summarized by Mr. George H. Sherwood, curator of public instruction, thus:1

*

The visit to the museum means more than an hour's instruction, more than a mere viewing of new objects; it means a change of environment, a stimulation of intellectual expression, the appreciation of the socializing forces which go to produce public institutions for the distribution of knowledge and the betterment of life. * * Probably no audience at the museum ever had greater enjoyment than did the 300 blind who assembled last autumn to hear Rear Admiral Peary tell the story of the discovery of the pole. The pleasure of the guests was increased by the special exhibit of the polar animals and the sledge actually used by Peary in his memorable trip.

UNIVERSITY MUSEUMS OF CULTURE.

In the chapter on the educational work of museums last year, it was pointed out that the museums of schools, colleges, and universities are numerically the largest class in the country, constituting approximately 38 per cent of all museums, but that they receive less financial support and accomplish less work than any others, with the possible exception of the smaller historical museums. The causes of this unfortunate condition of college museums as a class were also discussed, and a few exceptions to the general rule were noted. Under these conditions, the action of the board of trustees of the University of Indiana in authorizing, in 1911, the establishment of a museum of classical archæology and art, and a museum of European culture, is of especial interest.2

Mr. Neil C. Brooks, curator of the Museum of European Culture, points out that the museum of culture is a type comparatively new

1 Misc. Pub. of Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., No. 5, New York, June 23, 1914, p. 14.

2 See Brooks, Neil C. The Museum of European Culture of the University of Hlinois. Proc. Am. Assoc. Mus., VIII, 1914, pp. 120-124.

among university museums, and that the three newest museums at Harvard-the Semitic, the Germanic, and the Social museums-are of this type and have all been established within the last 10 or 11 years. It is the purpose of these museums to illustrate important periods and phases of civilization and of social development, and it is significant that they are established to serve as an educational aid to the departments of history and the social sciences, languages, and literature-just those departments which until recently were thought to need no material equipment except books and perhaps a few maps. Mr. Brooks believes that teachers of the humanities should realize more than they do that museum material is as essential to the study of history or literature or art as a laboratory is to the study of physics or chemistry.

It is to be hoped that these new university museums will successfully perform a large educational function and receive better-sustained support than the many college museums of natural history that have been created by enthusiastic and devoted labor only to be superseded by laboratories and changing ideas. The condition of these museums is the more pitiful because their decline is coincident with the recognition of the educational value of public museums.

CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS.

The Children's Museum of Boston, the establishment of which was noted in this report last year, is proving a worthy companion of the Children's Museum in Brooklyn, which was the pioneer in this field. The development of this museum has been so rapid and its success so marked that the report of the director, Miss Delia I. Griffin, is quoted in full:

This museum was established in response to the desire of a group of teachers for some adequate assistance in presenting the subject of nature study to their classes. Through the efforts of these teachers, wealthy and philanthropic citizens were interested in the project as well as the large museums of Massachusetts and the Park department of the city.

As a result of the combined efforts of these agencies, the museum was opened to the public August 1, 1913. It is housed in "Pine Bank," a fine brick building situated on the shore of Jamaica Pond, within walking distance of the Zoological Garden and Arnold Arboretum and in the midst of Boston's park system. The department not only allows the use of the building and pays for its maintenance, but cooperates with the museum in many ways, supplying material for botanical exhibits and affording facilities for nature walks and excursions.

All the collections are gifts from other museums, from business firms, and from individuals. They consist of fairly representative exhibits illustrating various departments of natural history, ethnology, and industry. But aside from these there are special exhibits valuable in a children's museum although not, perhaps, of a nature to be acceptable to a large scientific institution, temporary displays of bird pictures, nest boxes, feeding stations, and different kinds of bird food; aquaria and vivaria filled with reptiles and insects in various stages of development; and the flower tables with

their procession of blossoms, both wild and cultivated, in the spring and summer, and their burden of fruits and twigs of trees during the fall and winter.

In the eight school months of last year 300 lectures were given. Some of these assumed the form of walks through the park, with study of birds, shrubs, or trees; others were concerned with description of the exhibits, but the greater number were formal illustrated talks given in the lecture room and attended by classes of school children. It is a pleasure to record that the superintendent and most of the masters give heartiest sanction to the plan of such visits during school hours. The wishes of the teachers are followed in regard to the subjects of these lectures, which are correlated with the course of study in nature, geography, and history.

In addition to the educational work carried on by the members of the staff, the museum has been most fortunate in having the assistance of scientists and lecturers of note. Mr. J. H. Emerton, the well-known authority on spiders, gave a series of a dozen lectures illustrated by his own collection and by drawings. The lectures were so popular that Mr. Emerton is to repeat them this year. A geologist from the University Museum at Harvard took a group of boys on Saturday tramps during the spring, each pupil being provided with hammer, chisel, and "Geological Primer," and these trips are to be continued the coming year.

The stories of child life in Japan, written by Mr. Tomita, of the Museum of Fine Arts, are a notable addition to this educational work and are designed to accompany the Japanese collection, which is one of the most complete features of the history These stories have been exceedingly popular with groups of children from settlement houses, who have visited the museum during the summer.

room.

The courtesy of these gentlemen and of several others, all of whom gave their services, enabled the museum to provide for the young people speakers of unusual ability and also to furnish the scientists with eager and stimulating audiences.

The institution is incorporated, the board of trustees containing representatives of the State and city boards of education, the teaching force and park department of Boston, in addition to persons of leisure who have time to devote to the details of developing the museum. Its support is derived from membership dues, and a plan is now under way for securing an endowment fund.

In the final analysis, the value of such an institution must be determined by the attitude of the child public toward it. This one has been adopted by the juvenile population of Boston. The average daily attendance is upwards of 200, that of Saturday afternoons from 500 to 1,000. Dozens of young people plan to inspect it weekly, bringing contributions to it and noticing all new installations, while a few evidently consider that day lost which does not allow them an hour or more "helping" to arrange flower tables, feed the turtles, and act as guides for visitors. It was one of these lads who responded to the question, "How long does it take you to walk over here from your home?" with "Oh, I don't walk, I run all the way!"

It may confidently be expected that the number of children's museums will increase in the near future, and that corresponding success will be attained in many parts of the country.

SPECIAL MUSEUMS.

While the essentially public museums are the most conspicuously successful in educational work, it must not be overlooked that there are a considerable number of museums devoted to special technical subjects, like medicine, usually not open to the public, and having no elaborate organization, but containing much valuable material which is abundantly utilized in technical education and research.

The importance of visual instruction as expressed in museum exhibitions has been recognized in several special educational movements. The central feature of the highly organized antituberculosis campaign was a traveling museum, which was shown first at the American Museum of Natural History and subsequently in many cities throughout the country. A more recent illustration is the special exhibition conducted within the past year by the Museum of Safety in New York. These exhibitions are of a nature intermediate between the permanent museum and the temporary exposition. In their transient feature they resemble the latter, but their definiteness of purpose, discriminating selection of material, and instructiveness of labeling partake more of the nature of the museum.

The educational value of some of these exhibitions has been very great, and has demonstrated the desirability of reorganization into permanent museums. Thus the desirability of permanent civic and social museums has been shown by the many successful exhibits dealing with municipal government, hygiene, industrial problems, civic betterment, etc. Museums of this character were discussed in a comprehensive paper read before the Milwaukee-Chicago convention of the American Association of Museums by Mr. Edward L. Burchard, of the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy.1 The chief function of such museums would be the education of the rising generation.

VOCATIONAL LABORATORIES.

Dr. Hector Alliot, curator of the Southwest Museum, at Los Angeles, reports that he is installing in the new building of the museum free voluntary vocational laboratories for children over 14 years old, and for all others of mature years desirous of studying ethnology, zoology, conchology, entomology, botany, mineralogy, and technology.

This is but another illustration of the broad conception some of the newer museums have of their function. Such experiments will be watched with interest.

CONCLUSION.

The educational function of museums, both within the buildings and in various forms of extension work, is developing with marked enthusiasm by museum workers and is attracting increased interest and cooperation from school officials and the general public. The past year has seen concerted action by a number of museums for the more effective educational use of their material. It has been marked by the organization of the N. W. Harris Public School Extension at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, by a remarkably

1 Burchard, Edward L. Civic and social museums and exhibits. Proc. Am. Assoc. Mus., VIII, 1914, pp. 131-142.

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