Arizona weekly citizen., 1894-11-17
IN NATURES REALM.
The Handwork of Nature Classified ahd Arranged.
An Interesting Description of ths American Museum of Natural
 History in New York.

In upper New York City and on the
 west side of Central park in little park of it's own consisting of grassplots shrubbery and walks Is the Museum, free to the public excepting Monday and Tuesday when fee of 9 cents is required excepting from members. The visitors include out-ot-town and in-town residents, writers Of science and after school hours ard ou Saturdays teachers and school children, all coming to cultivate the taste and gratlfy the thirst for knowledge, reading is most excellent in its plac but seeing produces much more vivid impression. It is we'll known that c"nntry children can give city people many points upon the natural scit nce5 which they have acquired from observation.
 This Museum was founded in 1869, the cornerstone of the present struc- ture was laid by President Grant in 1874 and tine building opened by President Hays m 1877.
 Several additions have since been made, one at present is being finished; at the completion of each addition re-
 ception is given guests invited by cards of invitation and addresses made by prominent speakers. The front is of roughlight brow stone and the entrance is reached by two broad flight of stone steps meeting from opposite directions. Entering tnr ugh their arch to the basement we find the collection of North American Forestry; specimens in cross
 sections, one half of each being varnish- ed, also attached to each IS card giving the specific acteristics. One sec ton IS of the Charter Oak from Hartford Connecticut in winch the charter graL ted to that colony in 1862 was hld
 deeD in 1687; another IS of a sequoia gigantea from California which was 90 feet in circumference.
 In smaller cases are ugly worms chang ed later to beautiful butterflies, the worms are fastened to snal! twigs showing perfect and eaten leaves by them; there are specimens of wood bored by worms with 'he little creatures ID the holes; colored plates showing leaves of trees, flowers aud fruit
 In one corner is collection of the building stones of each state in samples of square D liehed blocks
 Near the entrance IS Lee: ure Hall, lu amphitheatre styl, where Saturday mornings Prot. Bickmore lectures to teachers on the natural sciences illus trating by lanterns visws connected with his subjects and views Of countries or cities; other lectures are given here evenings by prominent nrofessors, free tc the public and atteuded largely by
 the working classes.
 On the main floor Is Mammal and a Bird Hall. Near the entrance Is the | mammoth skeleton of Jumbo who met | bus death iB 1885 by collision with H rail way train. The animals are arrang-
 ed in glass-cases by familieF, representa- tives being from different parts of the world. also the skeletops of some.
 Ia the Birds Hall the birds gre claesi- l fed by families, among poetical names 1 of groups are sun-birds, flower-peckers | and honey eaters. There are smaller | cases showing the mode of nest build | ing; one of bank swallows with nests
 made in sand bank, they burrow about
 two feet and at the end make nests of straw lined with feathers, another of
 chimney swifts with their nests attachtd d | to the interior of chimney and the
 smoky looking little birds clinging to | the chimney sides. In other cases are various kinds of nests round and pouch | like and eggs varying in size from the ostrich to the tiny Anna's hummer. l Ascending to the next floor up the el- | evator or long stairs on which is a life | size stone Idol, we come to another Mammal and Bird hall. Here IS the Haida Canoe hollowed by the Bella Bella Indians of Queen Charlotte Island
 out of section of single tree and is 64 feet long and eIght feet wide. In thIs
 Mammal Hall is large represent tation of the PedimaDa sub-class among which
 are skeletons of native Australians and a chImpanzee, there being a striking re-
 sem blence in them; there are also rats mic-, fish, reptiles, footprints on sections
 of rock of the Triassic Peoiod indicating
 the existence of smphi bisns and reptiles in those times; fine collection oi | butterflies with their various dull and
 brilliant hues from many parts of thF globe, In this Bird Hall are birds oi
 North America and in two cases those found within 90 miles of New York City
 The animals and birds are arranged by
 Prof. J. 4. Allen Curator of that depart
 ment, with the aid of his two assistants. On the next higher floor is Geological
 and Neurological Hall, a collection of
 branching and rounded masses of coral,
 sea ferns and sea feathers, monovalve
 and bivalve shells beautiful in color and
 shape, the intsrior of some of the latter l .ppesring like pearly, colored pictur-
 esque scenery; startish mollushs aDo
 radiates in bottles of alchol: fine col
 lection of gold, silver, copper and lead
 ores from mines in Arizona; splendid
 collection of crystals 6nd geodes, greer
 velvety malRchite, remarkable group ot
 quartz crystals some ten inches long
 precious stones and gems, the gems
 and gem stones sent by Tiffany's to tnt Paris Exposition of 1889, exact model
 of celebrated diamonds including th,
 Great Mogul weighing 297 csrats; thou
 sands of meteorological specimens, anC
 geological from the different epoohs O stone and fossil remaine of plant anc animal life the grouping beIng by epoch
 one fossil skeleton of Hp Irish elk eX tinct which existed with prehistoric | tnhu III EuIopo, dieO OIueI lOeeil ehci
 etons.
 On the floor above is Archaelogica and Ethmological Hall containing ar ticies msde for clothing, family use
 was implements and other relics O
 varlous Indian and African tribes ant ' uncivilized ocean islanders. The Mus r eum's library contains csnsiderabl more than 12,000 volums, additions oft