1892. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 323 



the best rolled Oxford quad ; the fittings are luxurious, the cases are 

 beautifully French-polished and warranted dust-proof, and the rooms 

 are scrupulously clean, thanks to an impressive proclamation in the 

 ■entrance-hall, which decrees that neither " smoking, spitting, nor 

 chewing are allowed on the premises." The mounting of the speci- 

 mens is faultless, but the poor zoologist, who has hoped to see an 

 extensive series of specimens of the same species or fauna, has to 

 content himself with the examination of a few faultlessly-mounted 

 specimens, including a crocodile, a lion, a giraffe, an elephant, a 

 few other such curiosities, and a room of dissections of examination 

 types. The museum has been converted into an elementary text- 

 book illustrated by actual specimens or dissections, and in the absence 

 of the responsible member of the staff, who, of course, takes his vacation 

 at the time that the visitor has to take his, the latter leaves the 

 museum no wiser than he entered it. In cases such as these, the 

 museum has been run on lines that must ruin its value to systematic 

 zoologists. No doubt the show collections are intended for general 

 instruction, but to turn a large museum simply into a tool for teach- 

 ing the terms and definitions of elementary biology is a reckless 

 extravagance : this is the work of the school museum, whereas 

 that of the large State Museum is to stimulate observation and 

 general interest, and to aid the collector to identify his specimens 

 by the display of adequate series of species and variations. 



But in order to do this strict limitations are necessary on the 

 ■collections housed in the museum, and the great fault of the English 

 provincial museums is, as a rule, their miscellaneous nature; and 

 this can only be prevented by the exercise of considerable tact and 

 courage on the part of the curator. Professor Duncan used to tell 

 a story of a gentleman who called on him one day, when he was re- 

 arranging the Colchester Museum, and expressed such interest in 

 the collection that he would be delighted to present to it a specimen 

 of an 18 ft. crocodile. " Oh ! no doubt you would, if it is 18 ft. long," 

 was the opening sentence of the reply, in which the offer was gratefully 

 declined. Unfortunately, this view of the aims of a provincial 

 museum has not been always acted upon, with the result that in 

 many cases the collection better illustrates the travels of the local 

 gentry than the natural history of the neighbourhood. But the 

 necessity for emphasising this view of the case is no longer necessary ; 

 the idea that a museum is intended as a mere " raree show " has 

 long since been past. The educational value of museums is rapidly 

 becoming recognised, and with the spread of technical teaching the 

 necessity for an increase in their number and efficiency will, doubtless, 

 follow, just as the free libraries have followed the establishment of 

 School Boards. At the same time, they will cease to be regarded as 

 mere branches of the library,- and under independent control will be 

 free to improve as greatly as the Natural History Departments of 

 the British Museum have done since they escaped from the thraldom 



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