The Portland daily press., 1895-09-24
A MAGNIFICENT GIFT.
From Russia to POrtIand's Natural
History Society.

The Publication OF the st. Petersburg I'M
| periaI Academy for Thirty-Six Years
Large Volumes With Superb nlustra-
tions.
| The Portland Society of Natural His
tory has received this month magnifi-
cent gift from the Russian government.
1t consists of the publications of the St.
Petersburg Imperial Academy of Science
for a period OF 36 years. Our Portland
society had at one time received some
of these splendid publications and had
in the library the volumes from num-
bers IS to 90, of the memoirs and num-
bers 16 to "a of the Bulletins. None. had
been received here for from lotto IL years.
Mr.. Joseph P. Thompson, vice president
of the society, has been very desirous
that the society should possess the COM
plete list of these publications and has
written several times to st. Petersburg,
explaining that the Portland Society had
twice lost it's property by fire and had
been so crippled thereby as to be unable
to issue many publications of its own, to
be sent in exchange.
These letters resulted in the arrival
during the early part of this month of
all the publications desired, from the
first-year up to 1.-THE present. time, the 42d
year of the memoirs, and the Both year
of the Bulletins. with the exception of
course Of those already owned by the
society.
The publications came in the shape of
papered covered magazines of quarto
size, there being enough of them in each
yearly publication, or volume, of the
memoirs to make a bound book as large
as a Bible, and of the Bulletins there
are four Of the quarto magazines year.
ly.
The magnitude of this gift can be un-
derstood by rejecting that there were
36 of these volumes of the memoirs and
27 of the volumes of the Bulletins.
The memoirs are illustrated in truly
magnificent fashion. The Imperial Aca-
denny has the training of theIthe Russian
government behind it and need spare no
expense in illustrating or any other ex-
pense of printing.
The text is printed mostly in the Ger
man and French languages, though oc-
casionally there is an ssarticle in English,
and less frequently in Russian. The sub
jects embraced include vast variety of
information in regard to zoology, botany
and mineralogy.
This is truly magnificent gift. The
Illustrations would interest anybody,
even if he had no knowledge of, nor in
terest in natural science They are of
the highest order of excellence.
1t is to be regretted that the society has
not even sufficient funds to bind these
splendid quartcs now that they possess
them. Its income is SO small.th all of
it is required for the running expenses
of the building. There is in the library
now enough unbound publ ications, from
a great many institutions Of natural
science to make 1900 bound volumes, if
the society had the money wherewith to
pay for it
This gift from st. Petersburg is the
result of Mr. Thompson S efforts, as are
other recent and valuable additions to
the library. 1t is only by keeping con-
stantly at work that. the publications of
these great institutions are brought to
Portland. We have so littlezto offer in
exchange, because of lack of..funds to
print publications, that we are likely to
be forgotten unless some such special
effort is made