Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1886 [PAGE 18]

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10 The Regent then read the following report from Professor S. A. Forbes:

CHAMPAIGN, I I I . , Dec. 12,1884.

D E . S. H. PEABODY, liegent of the University: DEAK SIB—As the time has nearly arrived at which I must assume charge of the department of zoology and entomology in the University, it seems proper t h a t I should make some statement of the condition of that department with respect to appliances for its work, and put into formal shape my requests in that connection. As it has seemed expedient that 1 should, for the present at least, continue the work of the State Entomologist, I have asked that one of the rooms placed at my disposal (number six on the first door) be fitted up as an entomological office, and during your absence at New Orleans the furnishing of this room has been undertaken and partially completed Three book-cases have been moved down from the library for the accommodation of my entomological literature, and placed upon a table; two large work-tables have been made and placed before the windows, and a third table-case, containing drawers and cupboards of a height convenient for standing work, is now being made at the shops. The case formerly used for the storage of geological specimens in this room has been cleared and arranged for my entomological collection, and measures have been taken to place a sink in one corner of the room; a small office table has been bought, and storage cases for stationery and other supplies will be brought down from the store room. With the exception of a large office table, I believe these articles complete the necessary furnishing of the room. Boom number eight, the tower-room of this floor, I prefer to use as a class-room, and would be glad to have the furniture rearranged for that purpose. For the further accommodation of the classes in zoology and entomology, the principal need, and a very pressing one, is that of a students' laboratory for the study of zoological specimens. As the basement of the west wing seems to be unoccupied, I would respectfully suggest that a part of this space be partitioned off for a zoological laboratory—preferably the northwest corner. An excellent laboratory room can be made here in a way not to interfere in any particular with the further subdivision of the main room for general natural history purposes (if this is found to be desirable), and could be furnished at no great expense. I have consequently arranged a plan for the division and furnishing of this part of the room, and have asked the Professor of Architecture to make working drawings and to submit them to the foreman of the carpenter shops for estimates of the cost. I judge it will be quite essential to such a use of this room as is here proposed that the floor should be raised or otherwise protected from access of moisture beneath, as certain books, instruments and specimens must be habitually kept in this room, which, under present circumstances, would be liable to injury. The partition dividing the proposed students' laboratory from the remainder of the room, should be, in my opinion, a wainscoting about five feet high, and continued to the ceiling with glass. For furniture, I propose that the room be supplied with eighteen small dissecting tables, 2 feet by 4%, each with two drawers, the tables to be arranged in three rows running lengthwise of the room, so that all students at them shall face the windows. In the northeast corner of the room a long sink will be required, in which fifteen or twenty students can wash their hands at once. This sink should be so constructed that it may be opened up in a way to permit the washing of large objects, such as may sometimes be required for dissection. Some high tables against the proposed east wall for standing work will be necessary, and it is also very desirable that an aquarium of medium size be provided in which living animals can be kept for observation and study. The possibility of maintaining such an aquarium, however, depends upon the constancy and character of the water supply, and should, perhaps, be left until the fitness of the University well water for the purpose may be tested experimentally. Besides the above, a cupboard placed against the west wall will be needed for storage of microscopes and such other laboratory apparatus as may be issued to students, for which they are to be held personally responsible. This cupboard should be divided into numbered compartments, each with its separate door and lock, so that the property furnished each student may be separately secured. Details of the lighting and heating of the room will, of course, require attention, and a number of small fixtures, such as tube and bottle racks, drop lights aud the like, can best be supplied, I presume, from time to time as the need of them becomes apparent. I have n§xt to ask your attention to a matter of some importance to the future of the natural history work in the institution, and of especial interest to me personally, as related to the work of the natural history survey of the State, which I have been for many years carrying forward. As you are doubtless aware, I have for some time held the position of Director of the State Laboratory of Natural History, located in the Normal University building at Normal, and, indeed, still remain in nominal charge of that establishment, having received from the State Board of Education a leave of absence, without pay, from January 1 to June 30,1885, in order to enable me to enter upon my duties in the University here. If I believed that my acceptance of a chair in this University necessarily involved an interruption or serious modification of the work which I have organized as Director of the State Laboratory of Natural History, I should keenly regret it; and, indeed, I did not express my acceptance of that position until I had arranged a plan of readjustment which I thought adequate to prevent such a contingency- The location in the Normal University building of what is known as the State Laboratory of Natural History was purely accidental and historical in its origin, and it. is a fact generally recognized by the friends of both institutions, that there is no organic connection between their fields of labor. The essentials of my original work and of the State natural history survey can be transferred from the Normal building to the basement of the University without detriment to any part of the work of the Normal School, and, indeed, with relief and improvement to some departments of that work. I believe, therefore, that it will be entirely legitimate and proper for the trustees of