Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 75.djvu/236

232 As an attraction, one winter when the attendance was lbw, Peale installed in one corner of the hall a man to cut silhouettes by a new method. In one year 8,880 people carried away likenesses of themselves. After he retired, but particularly after his death, under the direction of his sons this precedent that Peale himself established of having attractions was increased, so that in its last years the institution became little more than a dime museum.

In the library of the Pennsylvania Historical Society there is a large blank book bound in whole calf entitled "Memoranda of the Philadelphia Museum/' This book contains a record of the donations, accessions and exchanges between the years 1803 and 1837. An impression that one gets from reviewing its pages is that of the enormous amount of valueless material presented by travelers from Europe and from farmers up in the state. This, however, is a common feature of all museums; nothing offered must be refused, but, if of no value, will find its way to the official rubbish heap.

The library of the museum must have been of exceeding value. Every page records books bought or books received in exchange. As an exchange for specimens sent to France the museum received Buffon's works in five volumes. The following is a sample page showing the type of entry:

Peale's early training and natural ingenuity enabled him to turn his hand to anything; this quality has been exaggerated by his biographers and mere incidents pointed to as periods in his career.

Peale's period of senescence may be said to date from the time he