Repository: UIHistories Project: Book - 16 Years (Edmund James) [PAGE 128]

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Sixteen Years at the University of Illinois rarer species of the southwestern states; extensive collections of mollusks from North and South America, including a very complete collection of the river mussels (Unionidae) of the United States; a large collection of Pleistocene fossils from Illinois; a large assortment of gems and precious stones; and a collection of the more common minerals. The Museum collections now number upwards of 200,000 specimens. During the curatorship of Professor Prank Smith the old wooden cases were largely replaced by the modern bronze and glass cases, so that a greatly improved appearance in the exhibition hall has been effected. The collections have also been cataloged, both numerically in book form and indexed by cards, and it is possible for the first time in the history of the Museum to know what is in the possession of this department. The increase in the Museum collections and the demand for their proper display made it evident that sooner or later it would be necessary to appoint a trained museum man who could give his entire time to the development and care of the Museum. In January, 1918, this was done. The Museum is now being developed along two quite distinct lines. First, the exhibit series which, being made distinctively educational, include a synoptic collection of the animal kingdom, embracing the living and the extinct groups arranged in their natural orders and showing their relationships. This is accomplished by the aid of models, diagrams, figures, specimens and descriptive labels. A case illustrating different kinds of variation in animal life is exhibited near this collection. For the agricultural student or the practical farmer, a model showing the twelve most injurious insects that infest the corn plant has been prepared. The group contains wax models of the corn plants with the insects in all stages of growth feeding upon them. For the interpretation of the out-of-doors (Ecology) a habitat group has been made showing the life in and about an old decaying stump. The background is an enlarged, carefully colored photograph, 40 by 60 inches, of the Brownfield Woods. The plants and other life of such a place are shown*