The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-02
A GIFT OF FAMOUS MINERALS.
a Donation to the American Museum,
of National History.

of NntiounI History.
NEW YORK, Jan 1.-The American Mu-
scum of Natural History has just received
collection of minerals and meteorites
valued at from s15O.G0O to 5000. 600. from
person whose name is not made public
The collection was made by Clarence S
Bement. of Philadelphia. The collecting
began thirty-fve years ago. and as sc'enti-
tic knowledge grew and means ampli1 Ted
the specimens increased in number and
quality The process of adding, culling
and exchanging has been carried on up &c
the present. The best was good enough
for Mr.. Bement. To get it was a matter
or time and opportunity. as well as oil
money. To gather minerals In quantity
and kind adapted for scientific study OF the
instruction Of the ignorant is comparative
| ly easy: the brain and the purse are both
| taxed to assemble the specimens classified
| by mineralogists, and at the same time oil
| quality to display natures most perfect
rare or freakish handiwork
| As early as 1884 the Bement collection
attracted the attention - the United
! States authorities, and a report was pub
| lished in the interest of the National
Museum at Washington asserting that its
purchase would place that museum on a
par with many of the great ones in
| Europe. Spencer +. Baird declared re-
peatedly that if he lived the Government
| should have the collection. The curator
| oil a foreign museum saw it, and after
returning to Europe cabled that he would
| buy it, but the gathering of the money
was too difficult. Speaking of selling, it
| might be imagined that Mr.. Bement col
leeted with a mercenary view. Not so.
| HIS collection grew to such Importance
that curators, scientists. and visitors urg-
| ed that it should go to public institu-
ton. He was always ready to assume a
liberal attitude toward any such acquisi-
| ton.
| Though realizing that the collection. as
early as 1884. had assumed museum pro-
| portions, he went on with additions and
improvements up to the last month. His
| collection has increased by over 50 per
| cent since 1884. The specimens have not
been counted, but are supposed to number
| about fourteen thousand. The foreign
professors Nordenskiold, Ven Rath. Croth
and Lacroix found much to interest them
| spending many days in his mineral rooms
Prof. Maskelyne, former curator OF the
| BRUSH Museum. and Prof. Miers of Ok
| fora, were also his visitors. In mineralo-
| sy the British Museum collection as
whole exceeds that of all others. but its
american department is quite inferior to
| Mr.. Dement'S, and there are many speci-
mems in the general series which would
| improve the collection in London. 1t has
somehow happened, either by luck or lfb-
erality, that Mr.. Bement got the pick of
| other collections In 1888 he selected
from the Spang collection. then the best
private collection in the country. and
cuiled four other collections The colIec-
ton of Baron Braun. of Munich. and sew
erai others were picked. 1t would be diff
cult TO find anyone more imbued with The
genius of collecting than Mr.. Bement.
He has made collections in several lines.
all of which have been of high quality.
SO much has been said of the COLLECTORS
motives, as 1t is the simplest way to con-
Vey some idea OF the character and quality
! OF the Specimen. a description is iulprac-
| ticable. Capitalization in the greatest Of
variety and with features of Importance
TO the scientific man abound and while
there is food for the finished scholar in
mineralogy. there is plenty to interest
the tyro or the casual observer. Some
species will interest the general public
more particularly than others the quartz
crystals, for instance. beautiful TO any
eye, as also the flour spar, and the beryIs.
barytes, cuolcites, garrets. sulphurs czu-
rites. tourmalines. topazes, etc Though
nassiyeness alone is not the ideal of the
connoisseur. there are four or five hun
dred large pieces. forming to the corIec-
ton a crown of beauty and color Min
erals are obtained mostly from mines and
railroad cuttings, some from trap rocks
by the seashore, others in crevasses of
mountains and from volcanoes Vesuvius
is rich locality. The Swiss mountaineer
though hardy and satisfied with small ray.
has almost given up the search for min
erals on account of the scarcity and the.
dangers incurred in looking for them in
almost inaccessible places
One of the famous pieces is a splendid
smoky quartz crystal, which weighs six
ty-fiye pounds. 1t was found over twenty
years ago in the Tiefen Glacier, near the
Furca Pass. The specimens found were
lowered by ropes, and several were
scratched and damaged NJ Burke. citi-
zen of Berne. secured the lot for the local
museum, retaining for himself this grand
specimen. naming it THE President" Mr..
Bement secured IL when he picked n
Burke's collection. The feature Of this
crystal is its fine condition
Some OF the gypsum crystals. delicate
enough to be scratched by the finger nail.
are fine and clear as plate glass. The
largest crystal is about forty by eight
inches. The remarkable emerald. eight
and half inches long from North Caro-
lima. valued at $1,000 in 1884 and figured
in kunZ's work on American gems, Is
here. Prof. Won Rath. Of the University
OF Bonn. confessed that without having
seen this collection, he would have had
but faint idea of the beauty of American
minerals After his return to Europe in
1884 he wrote an article for a German
scientific Journal which was translated
by Mr.. kunz and printed in New York in
1885, The professor hoped that the treas
ures so happily combined would find a
worthy place in the National Museum at
Washington. Now. by the liberalitv of one
OF its citizens. they are in this city. where
they win do the greatest good to the
greatest number.
The collection of meteorites is q most
interesting addendum 1t numbers about
five or six hundred specimens from AS
falls They are unusual as to size and
quality Collecting meteorites is very
costly pursuit. They are SO precious as
to be sold by the gramme One little
specimen. OF prehistoric find weighing
seventeen grammcs. would readily bring
500. The specimens range from a single
gramme to about one hundred and fifty
pounds. and at dealers prices the meteor
ties are worth $50 900 The price paid for
the whole collection is not given but the
money value is reckoned at between size
600 and f200. COZ. The directors and trus-
tees may well feel proud that they now
possess both the Tiffany gem minerals
and the Bement minerals and rneteorites
The American Museum Of Natural History
has been under the presidency of Morris |
X. Jesup for twenty years. He has given |
time and money without stint, and the |
directors and trustees have been liberal |
in their aid until what was once COM
passed by the dingy old arsenal in Central |
Park Is now expanded in the splendid |,
American Museum Of Natural History |
While II is considered only half grown IL |
is half grown giant No doubt before |