390 NATURAL SCIENCE [December 



(c) The attainment of a certain standard of excellence and 



completeness. 



(d) An adequate staff. 



Means could be devised by which certain of the museums in 

 classes II. and IV. could be raised to the standard of class I., so that, 

 speaking generally, the country would become parcelled out into 

 areas, in each of which a museum was maintained, in constant good 

 order, and ministering in a special as well as a general manner to 

 the needs of the population. 



II. Remaining museums might be subsidised through the agency 

 of County Councils, upon certificates of efficiency and progress re- 

 ceived annually from an accredited visitor, who might be an official 

 of the Government or of one of the first-class museums. 



Great help would be rendered to the curators of small museums 

 if, as a condition of the subsidy, a member of the staff of the first- 

 class museum had a seat and vote upon the committee. Such a po^t 

 might well be honorary, and would be analogous to that which 

 obtains in the case of certain Grammar Schools, a governor serving 

 upon the board by appointment from one of the larger Colleges or 

 Universities. 



III. The small museums might be grouped around the larger 

 according to locality and function, and by means of a nominal con- 

 tribution to the funds of the larger have a claim for help and 

 direction. 



The advantages, if a scheme of this sort be applied to the whole 

 country, might be dealt with at considerable length, but it will be 

 less likely to confuse if we narrate briefly what we consider to be 

 the chief. 



Museums' aims, management, and development would become 

 organised throughout the country, and lead at the outset to the 

 abolition of a needless overlapping where several museums exist in 

 a large town or city under different management. 



More museums of the first class would be created, and the 

 curators of county museums, and students generally, would find help 

 nearer at hand than at present. The conditions of existence of the 

 large museums would require that the systematic study of the fauna, 

 flora, &c, of large districts be prosecuted with diligence and the 

 salient features of each being demonstrated in the museum collections. 

 The whole would necessarily become of prime importance to the 

 public, a permanent memorial of the scientific value of the area 

 served, and of great usefulness to the specialist and the nation. 



The small museums might have a similar charge, though, of 

 course, in a smaller and more localised degree, whilst being also re- 

 quired to maintain a good type-collection suited to the wants of the 

 population. 



