The Scottish Naturalist. 51 



As for the other parts of Scotland, the following areas of federa- 

 tion may be suggested : — One for all the west between Dumfries 

 and Glasgow (north of this there seems not to be any societies yet 

 in existence), or in other words the districts " Solway " and 

 " Clyde ; " one for the south-east, from Fife and Stirling to the 

 borders (that is, the districts " Forth " and " Tweed") ; while the 

 societies in the north would naturally form another confederation. 



F. B. White. 



THE PERTHSHIRE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM. 

 By F. BUCHANAN WHITE, M.D., F.L.S, 



AT page 97 of Vol. VI. of this magazine is a short description 

 of a building which had just been erected in Perth for the 

 Perthshire Society of Natural Science. As all our readers may 

 not have had an opportunity of reading this description, we may 

 mention that the building in question was erected chiefly by means 

 of the"MoncreirTe Memorial Museum Fund/' subscribed in memory 

 of the late Sir Thomas Moncreiffe, who died while President of the 

 Society, and who, during his term of office, had been an enthusi- 

 astic promoter of, and large subscriber to, a scheme for founding 

 a Natural History Museum in Perth. 



In addition to lecture-room, library, laboratory, &c, the building 

 in question contains a museum-hall. This is 56 feet long by 22 

 broad, and 19 feet 6 inches high to the spring of the rafters of the 

 roof. The ceiling is open and made of varnished pitch-pine. 

 The hall is lighted by a row of windows on one side and a double 

 series of windows in the roof. 



Though it is not much more than a year and a half since the 

 Museum was furnished with cases, yet the arrangement is so far 

 completed that it is in contemplation to open it to the public 

 in a short time. The arrangement, it must be remembered, has 

 been entirely a labour of love, and, as like most other societies, 

 the Perthshire Society has comparatively few workers, the space 

 of time in which it has been carried out is by no means excessive, 

 but rather the reverse. As a considerable amount of thought had 

 to be expended on the scheme of arrangement, it has been con- 

 sidered that some details of it may not be without use to other 

 societies or individuals who contemplate the formation of a 

 museum. 



The object of a museum is of course educational. A museum 



