The western country, from having afforded some of the most gigantic and curious remains of land animals which have yet been discovered, seems entitled to a museum of such relics. A collection of this kind will be one of the earliest objects of the Society. Its funds will be liberally expended for the purpose; and if aided by those who may be so fortunate as to discover any of the great bones which lie buried in our alluvial or bottom lands, the managers hope, at no distant period, to repair, in some degree, the losses which have been repeatedly sustained by exportation of these interesting fossils. The third class comprises objects of very little utility, but of extraordinary interest. Nothing, indeed, presented by the western country seems to excite in a higher degree the curiosity of strangers, than the relics and vestiges of the extinct and comparatively civilized population with which it abounds. The managers will make every possible effort to form an extensive collection of these remains. It is extremely unfortunate for those engaged in researches concerning the objects of this class, that so many of them have been disseminated abroad. To study them successfully, it is necessary that they should be compared, and for this purpose they must be brought together. The managers hope, therefore, that such persons as now hold, or may hereafter possess any of these antiquities, will dispose of them to the Society, instead of sending them out of the country. In this way, and in this only, can a valuable collection of these unique curiosities be formed. The remaining class comprehends the weapons, utensils, trinkets, and other manufactures of our neighbouring Indians, of which the managers hope, in a short time, to be able to exhibit a great variety. The curiosities of this country are the primary, but not the exclusive objects of the Society. It proposes in due time to open a gallery of paintings, and thus offer to the lovers and cultivators of the fine arts, a few of those models which are absolutely necessary to the gratification and improvement of their taste. The managers will be happy, moreover, to receive from such of their eastern brethren as are desirous of contributing to the amelioration and advancement of a new and remote community, any of the productions of foreign countries that may be calculated to promote this object; and will, in return, cheerfully exchange any specimens of the curiosities of this country which they can spare without injury to their collection. They will, if required, pay a reasonable price for every article which may be deemed worthy of introduction into the museum. They intend to publish, annually, a catalogue of all the more valuable donations which may be made to the museum, with the names of the donors. ELIJAH SLACK, } JAMES FINDLAY, } WILLIAM STEELE, } _Managers_. JESSE EMBREE, } DANIEL DRAKE, } _Cincinnati, Sept. 15, 1818._