Ann Hoelzel, age 10, of Rock Island, I11., for her question:

WHO STARTED THE FAMOUS FIELD MUSUEM?

One of the world's largest and best known museums is Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History. An American merchant and philanthropist named Marshall Field I founded the museum in 1893 and gave it more than $9 million during his lifetime.

The museum was first called the Columbian Museum of Chicago. Within a year of its founding, its name was changed to the Field Columbian Museum. In 1905, the museum received its present name. But from 1943 until 1966 it was called the Chicago Natural History Museum.

The famous museum contains more than 13 million objects in four major fields: botany, anthropology, geology and zoology. Its library has almost 200,000 volumes for the use of scientists and the general public.

The botany department includes a world famous collection of plant models. The geology department is noted for its great hail of paleontology, which has many fossil displays, including a number of dinosaurs. This department also has the most extensive collection of meteorites in the world.

Anthropology exhibits include collections from the civilizations of ancient Egyptians and of North American Indians. Zoology exhibits include displays of the mammals of the world.