86 The Irish 'Naturalist. May, 



the advancement of knowledge, but by the treatment of 

 these contents. Hence the making of a Museum depends 

 on the knowledge of the curator and his ability to apply 

 that knowledge in the arrangement of his collections. A 

 Museum is like a living organism, it requires continual and 

 tender care. It must grow or it will perish, and great cost 

 and labour are required to maintain it in a state of vitality. 



I would urge upon any Museum committee the desirability 

 of appointing a curator before the museum is built. Let 

 the curator then form the nucleus of a collection and care- 

 fully study the plans of all the more important modern 

 Museums, especially as regards space, lighting and heating, 

 so as to enable him to aid in devising a proper scheme for 

 housing the collections. The scope of the Museum should 

 be strictly defined. In a great industrial city, hke Belfast, 

 with its wonderful shipbuilding and linen and other in- 

 dustries, it seems very desirable that some rooms in its 

 Museum should be set apart for an adequate illustration of 

 the rise, histor^^ and progress of such industries. The habits 

 and customs of the primitive tribes which once resided in 

 the district or province in which the provincial Museum is 

 situated will form anothermost worthy object for illustration. 

 The local antiquities, the local zoology, botany and geology, 

 as well as the local arts and art industries should all have 

 parts of the building reserved to them. Here we have to 

 face the great difficulty of space. Moreover every large 

 Museum must divide its collections into two portions, 

 namely, a reserve or study series and an exhibited series. 

 Even in small Museums it is found necessary to keep part 

 of the collections strictly for students and exhibit the 

 remainder. Ample storage accommodation at any rate is 

 essential. 



A great many other subjects besides those alluded to may 

 be illustrated in a Museum if the necessary space be available. 

 To give an object lesson of the gradual growth and evolution 

 of the town or city in which the Museum is situated would 

 be not only instructive, but it would tend to rouse an 

 interest among the citizens in the problems of the future 

 expansion and what had been called " town-planning." 



