On page 69 of the 1873 Annual Report of the Board of Regents, Winchell provided the most complete description of the materials that existed as the nucleus of what became the General Museum.
Report of the Curator of the Museum.
To the President of the University:
In April, 1873, the Board of Regents devolved on me the Curatorship of the University Museum. This report is intended to give a statement of the collections that were then found in the buildings of the University, their condition and subsequent care, and to call attention to some of the imperative needs of the Museum. It will also furnish a starting point from which the future growth of the Museum may be seen by regularly recorded annual increments. In order that this history may not be incomplete, it is necessary to enumerate, by reference to the previous reports of the President of the University, the sources and the dates of reception of collections that have been placed in the University.
Prof. Washburn mentions, in his report to the superintendent of public instruction, dated Nov. 28, 1868, "one box of shells, from the Smithsonian Institution," also, “one box geological specimens from the Smithsonian Institution." He also mentions" geological specimens from various parts of the State by Prof. Moore."
In the Report of the Board of Regents to the Governor, dated December 22, 1871, the collections obtained by Prof. Campbell in Europe are referred to, as consisting of geological specimens, and photographs of antiquities and works of art. These were added to the Museum in 1871.
In the report of the President of the University for the same year a record is made of the presentation to the University by Rt. Rev. H. B. Whipple of "a valuable collection of coins, consisting of about sixty Italian, Spanish, Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Moorish specimens."
Upon examination of the boxes and open shelving holding the specimens of the Museum, it was found that there were more specimens than had ever been recorded, and that they were all in more or less confusion. Some of them were utterly uncared for, unlabeled and unboxed, the donors' names, if they ever were known, having been lost, the localities whence derived in many cases obscurely remembered or unknown, and their value for all purposes much diminished. No records had been preserved. The following list embraces a general classification and description of the specimens found, with statements of their identification when such was possible:
Twenty specimens from Ayrshire, Scotland, illustrative of the coal measures, procured by Prof. G. Campbell.
Thirty-five European minerals, some of them illustrative of the ore and iron of the Dalmellington Iron Works, Ayrshire, Scotland, procured by Prof. G. Campbell.
Seven specimens from the Trenton Limestone, showing different fossils. Donor unknown.
One specimen, a large orthoceras, from the Trenton at Mendota. Presented by Gen. H. P. VanCleve.
Thirty-two specimens illustrative of the metamorphic rocks; localities and donors entirely unknown.
One hundred and seventeen specimens from the Hamilton limestone (of Illinois?), fossils. Obtained from J. F. Kenworthy.
Thirty-seven specimens, comprising various minerals and ores. No records whatever.
Thirty-eight specimens, minerals and fossils; localities unknown; from Dr. Stoneman.
Thirty-seven specimens, well labeled and identified, illustrative of the geology of W. Rutland, Vt., and Mt. Holyoke, S. Hampton and Chester, Mass., presented by Prof. Arthur Beardsley.
A collection of about two hundred rare minerals and fossils, partially labeled, but exposed to depredations and damage. Purchased by the Board of Regents. The localities whence these specimens were derived are unknown.
A good collection of marine corals and shells, partly labeled. Purchased by the Board of Regents from H. T. Woodman, in 1872.
A box of bones said to be those of a saurian, obtained in Dacotah.
A collection of lead ore specimens from Mine La Motte, Missouri. Presented by Mr. G. D. B. Bainbridge, student in the University, March 10, 1873.
A collection of carniferous fossils from the Falls of the Ohio, at Louisville, Ky. Presented April 16,1873, by Mr. Clark Stewart, student in the University.
Specimens of rock from the lower FalIs of Prairie River, Minn. Presented June 17, 1873, by Nathan Butler, Esq.
The first step taken toward arranging and cataloguing these specimens, was the procuring of the proper record books and the choice of a system of labeling. The work of examining and arranging proceeded as far as the time at my disposal up to the beginning of the field work of the Geological Survey would permit. But the facilities and conveniencies for storing and preservation are so poor, that there is but little inducement to work at the specimens. They are crowded into a very small room, in which there are no proper cases nor shelves. They are mingled with the philosophical and chemical apparatus. They lie on tables, on the floor, in open boxes, accumulating dust, often displaced, sometimes injured and broken, inaccessible both to visitors and to the professor who would use them for illustration in his classes. The collections of the Geological and Natural History Survey are not yet turned over to the Museum, but remain as they were received, securely boxed, each specimen carefully wrapped, with its locality expressed in a separate piece of paper. There they must remain till proper storage room is provided, and cases for their exhibition be constructed.
It is earnestly requested that a room in the University building be allotted to the Museum, and that a few appropriate cases be ordered, to contain the collections at present on hand, and to receive those that may hereafter be obtained. The private collections of Prof. Peckham and myself, would be placed on exhibition in the University Museum if the necessary means for their security were taken by the Board of Regents.
N. H. WINCHELL,
Curator.