An entomologist who generously left his life savings and a bug collection with 250,000 well-preserved specimens to the Smithsonian has put the museum into something of a pickle.
When Carl J. Drake died in 1965, he left extremely specific conditions in his will that are making it difficult for the Smithsonian Institution to put his money and bug collection to the best use, the Associated Press reported.
Drake, who spent his whole life studying bugs, wanted his savings to go toward more bug collections. According to the Smithsonian's lawyers, the institution has used the funds for more than a dozen bug collections in the last 50 years, but purchasing new specimens has become increasingly difficult due to federal red tape.
Adhering completely to the will has "become impossible, impracticable and wasteful," wrote Department of Justice lawyers on the Smithsonian's behalf, as quoted by the AP.
Drake's investment has grown over the years from $250,000 to about $4 million, and the Smithsonian wants to spend some of the money on supplies and scientific research instead of just buying more bug collections.
Besides saying the money could only go toward new specimens, Drake put a condition in his will that his 250,000 specimens could not be loaned out to other institutions, a caveat that stems from the way insects were frequently damaged during shipping in his day.
Per his behest, the impressive collection is currently resting in separate cabinets at the National Museum of Natural History, something the Smithsonian says strains its "increasingly scarce collection space," the AP reported.
The Smithsonian's petition to modify the will's terms is in the hands of a federal judge, and whether or not the museum will be allowed to update it is uncertain.
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