The formal opening of the new collection of classical antiquities took place last night in Sever 29. A large number of objects collected in Greece and Italy by Dr. G. J. Pfeiffer form the basis of the collection, which will be used for purposes of illustration in courses of archaeology and kindred subjects and should be of interest to students at large because of its variety and effective arrangement. Short speeches were made by Professor M. H. Morgan '81, chairman of the Department of the Classics, Dr. G. H. Chase '96, Dr. G. J. Pfeiffer and Mr. G. H. Browne '78, principal of the Browne-Nichols school.

The history of the collection, said Dr. Chase, began last spring, when Dr. Pfeiffer offered his collection to the Department of the Classics. The Corporation accepted the gift, the importance of which, however, as affording a large nucleus for a museum, was only realized when the work of cataloguing and of collecting from various quarters the other possessions of the Department was begun. It was then realized that the Department possessed a working collection which will be invaluable to students of archaeology and of Greek and Roman life because it crystallizes by concrete examples the information gained in text books and because it indicates new lines of work.

Mr. G. H. Browne has loaned a collection of fragments of prehistoric pottery, some of which are as old as the first city on the site of Troy. Mr. W. A. Gardner and Mr. G. M. Lane have given money for cases in which to put the collection, and the Corporation has granted the use of rooms 25 and 27 in Sever Hall.

Dr. Pfeiffer, after explaining his method of mounting different pieces of the antiquities, gave a summary of the collection. It contains, he said, specimens of Greek and Roman pottery, marbles, and building materials, votive offerings from Veii, specimens of black bucchero ware, cinerary urns, and 1200 photographs from the large collection made by Mr. G. H. Parker for his work on the archaeology of Rome.

At the close of the formal exercises the members of the conference inspected the collection, which will be open to the public on Wednesday afternoons from 2 to 5 o'clock.