the Progress ofNatwal History in this Country, 15 



natural history in England may be briefly stated : the first is, 

 the deplorably ineffective state of our public museums; the 

 second is, the very expensive form in which works on natural 

 history are generally published in this country. The total 

 amount of the money expended in collecting objects of natural 

 history for the British Museum, is, perhaps, one hundred 

 times greater than the sum expended in forming the museum of 

 natural history at the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris ; and yet the 

 utility of the latter, to the student of natural history, may be 

 fairly said to exceed that of the former, in the ratio of a thousand 

 to one. The British Museum is the property of the nation, 

 having been bequeathed to the public, or purchased and sup- 

 ported with the public money ; but, till recently, the public 

 had great difficulty in obtaining access within its walls ; and 

 when it was at length opened on certain days, the admission 

 was rather granted as a favour, than conceded as a right. 

 The value of the admission to the student of natural history 

 was greatly diminished from the want of a scientific arrange- 

 ment of the objects ; particularly in the zoological department. 

 The defects were those of its original formation. The inten- 

 tion appears to have been to collect whatever was extraor- 

 dinary or rare, without any view to arrangement: it was an 

 assemblage of curiosities, some of which, as single objects, 

 were highly interesting to the professed naturalist, but con- 

 veyed little instruction to the learner. 



After the Greville collection had been purchased by the 

 nation, at a considerable price, a part of the minerals were 

 arranged and exhibited ; and the mineralogical department, 

 as far as regards simple minerals, is, perhaps, as well classed 

 as the space allowed for it would admit of. Yet, as a useful 

 collection, it is still defective. Many of the specimens are 

 without labels, and they consist chiefly of the more rare crys- 

 tallisations of each species, whereas to be really useful, a public 

 collection ought to contain specimens of each mineral, in the 

 most common form in which it usually occurs, as well as the 

 rare crystalline forms, which are only to be found in par- 

 ticular situations. 



It is more than twelve years since I was induced to 

 expect that a scientific arrangement of the shells would be 

 undertaken ; but after visiting the museum for ten years, I 

 could perceive no progress made in such a labour, and I 

 discontinued my visits, as there appeared every probability 

 that the present generation would pass away before it was 

 accomplished. There were, indeed, some cases, with shells 

 placed to amuse the spectator by the splendour of their 

 colours, or the beauty of their forms ; but there was no sys- 



