THE FUNCTIONS OF MUSEUMS. 213 



mon sense. Therefore, the curator with a plan, and with a little tact, 

 will say ' * My dear Msecsenas ! This is a charming thing you offer ; I 

 only wish we could accept it. But you will understand at once that it 

 does not fall within the scheme drawn up for our museum and sanc- 

 tioned by the authorities [here he will drag in the most imposing 

 authorities at his command]. On the other hand, there are many sad 

 gaps in our collection, and there is now in the market a most desirable 

 rarity, which I should rejoice to have in our museum with your name 

 attached. When you see it you will agree that it will bear perpetual 

 witness to your discrimination no less than to your generosity." But 

 it is possible that those ' authorities, ' on whom the curator ought to rely, 

 may themselves be the difficulty. Then the curator must stiffen his 

 back and, with as much dignity as is politic, say "Gentlemen, you 

 have yourselves appointed me to a position of trust, and it is my duty 

 towards you and the public to advise you on these matters. If you 

 dispute my competence, you stultify your own action." 



This need for keeping to a plan in the acquisition of material 

 applies to all museums, whatever be the nature of their contents and 

 whichever function they profess to fulfil. But chiefly does it apply to 

 the smaller museums and to those of limited scope, since it is the best 

 way, I will not say to prevent overcrowding, but at least to put off 

 that evil day. And among such museums it applies most forcibly to 

 those that make their chief appeal to the great public. 



But to return to the investigators. What methods of preservation 

 are the most favorable to their studies? Preservation includes both 

 the technical processes by which objects are saved from decay and the 

 disposition or storage of the objects within the museum. It is with 

 the latter division of the subject that I am now concerned. The 

 methods adopted must be such as to permit readiness of access to the 

 specimens, readiness of comparison and readiness of handling. The 

 investigator must be afforded quiet, light, space, and facilities for using 

 such apparatus as may be required for his study, such as books, micro- 

 scopes, measures, brushes, reagents, and the materials for drawing, paint- 

 ing and writing. Clearly the exhibition of the specimens in galleries 

 visited all day long by the public is opposed to every one of these wants. 

 They are best met by keeping the specimens, when their size and con- 

 stitution admit, in a series of interchangeable drawers.* Such draw- 

 ers can readily be removed to a private workroom for study, and may, 

 while there, be stacked in a spare cabinet body kept for the purpose. 

 The specimens may then be examined and replaced without disturbance 

 of their order, and with the least possible trouble to the museum-staff. 



But in almost all departments of a museum we are met by objects 



* There are many excellent models. Some are described in Appendix II. 

 of the address above referred to. 



