Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/359

 FRIDAY. APRIL 24, 1S85.

COMMENT AND CRITICISM. I'he work of the commiBsi oners of the state lervation st Niagara hns advanced to the point that the bill making the appropriations for taking the necessary lands has passed the legislature, and only awaits the signature of the governor. There cornea a suggestion from Mr. S. A. Lattiinore of Rochester, to the effect, thai, in the event of the acquisition of the land around the falls by the stat«, a luuseiun shotild be ei'ected there, to be devoted exclusively to the elacidation and explanation of the physical and geological history of the place. Its walls should be built of I'ocks from local quarries ; its rooms should contain only such objects as possess a true scientific value ; mere curiosities, and specimens from other regions, should be carefully excluded ; every thing should have as direct a bearing as possible on the history of the falls. Samples of the famous rock scries from the got^e, with its fossils and minerals ; plants and animals from the neighboring coun- try ; and maps and models of the falls and the chain of great lakes, — constitute the chief parts of the museum as described by its pro- jector.

The plan is certainly a good one, aud may be successfully carried out at no great cost. Such a museum could be made attractive as well as instructive, and few visitors would fail to see and profit by it- The exclusion of curiosities, such as too often encumber mu- seums, is well advised; but to our mind the collection needs two additional elements in order to reach its full value, — waterfalls and gorges in other parts of the world should be illustrated by views, maps, models, and descrip- tions, so that the inquiring stranger might gain a true estimate of Niagara ; and the exhibit should be described in some detail on the !*o. ]]fl _ isss.

��labels- Few collections that are open to the pubhc have sufficient explanation accompany- ing them ; and visitors are, as a rule, forced to be discontented with mere names instead of reading well-stated meanings of what they see. Such descriptive labels might even be supple- mented by brief papers prepared by specialists, and accessible to the small share of visitors who care to make some study of the place. We commend Mr. Lattimore's project to the cnt'eful consideration of the c

��<)s Ai'KiL Ifi, Gov. Harrison (who is now ex officio a member of the Yale corporation, and who was, until his election as governor, one of the corporators elected by the Yale alumni) signed the bill by which the state of Connecticut termliiated its contract with the Yale observatory for furnishing standard time. The legislation on this subject has bad a his- tory which strikinj ly illustrates the danger of having scientific institutions dei>end on popular assemblies for annual appropriations for their support. When the ' standard lime ' law was enacted, in I'^Sl, Connecticut had its full quota of local times- The confusion in that manu- facturing and busy community was so marked, that the Yale observatory had comparatively little difficulty in guiding an exceptionally able legislature to a unanimous decisibu in regard to establishing a standard tinje. The obser- vatory, with an admirable plant, has conducted the service with uniform efficiency and ac- curacy.

To the surprise of its officers, some two months since, the appropriation committee re- ported to the Connecticut house of represen- ■ tatives a bill repealing the appropriation by amending the original act. This re|x>rt was made without a single hearing on the merits of the case. When it became known that the committee intendeil to push the report, the friends of the obsenatory, and those interested

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