^Iattkhs Coxcrunino Musicu.Ms IN South Afuica. 277 



scientific periodicals ot" tlic descriptions of iiumeious Soutli African 

 inaniinals, birds, reptiles, fishes, insects and other classes of animals of 

 which the types are hopelessly lost to South Africa : and T fear that T 

 am, alas I correct when 1 utter the degrading truth that a zoologist, 

 desirous of studying the known fauna of South Africa, and wishing to 

 compare and name the specimens he collected, will go to London, 

 Levden, Berlin or Washington to name his specimens, rather than to 

 an}' of our South African institutioTis. Now 1 venture to ask, Ts this 

 a sound, healthy, normal state of affairs, and if not, is there no remedy 

 to be found without going to the diflerent Governments and asking — - 

 in vain — for a duplication of our yearly grants or subsidies? 



Every one of us who has been or is connected with our museums 

 knows by experience that our staffs are hopelessly undermanned ; and 

 more than this, that there is expected from us that we are specialists 

 in every branch of which our institutions contain collections. T!ie 

 public, and I fear to a great extent also the (jloverinnents and our 

 committees generally, believe that our exhibition halls are the )nain 

 portion of our scientific treasures, and that the making of study 

 collections, which are of course not accessible t(j the general public, are 

 waste of public funds. The whole arrangement of the greater part of 

 our museum buiklings prove the truth of this fact : seven-eighths of the 

 available space in the building is .set apart for the exhibition of speci- 

 mens, whereas in the remaining eighth the administrative and scientific 

 staffs are crowded together with their libraries, their instruments and, 

 last, but not least, with their study collections, which latter alone 

 ought to have the larger share of room in the whole buildings. 



1 have read in many of the vearl}'' reports of the different insti- 

 tutions that serious complaints about this matter are brought to the 

 notice of the different governing bodies, committees or Governments, 

 but scant attention is paid to these just complaints, and no help is 

 given to remedy this deplorable state of affairs. 



It is no use trying to find all the causes of this misery outside our 

 own circle, and I think we museum men are to a certain extent to 

 blame as well. 1 would like to advocate the formation of a South 

 African Museum Association, as a branch of this Association, of which 

 every museum as an institution as well as every member of the scien- 

 tific staff could be a member. This association should of course have 

 the official approval and co-operation of the various Governments, as 

 this should enal)le the directors and members of their staffs to meet 

 once a year in a different museum centre, so as to get acipiainted with 

 each other's work, methods, wants and results, without having to 

 defra}' the expense of such travelling and meeting out of their own 

 pockets. In many of the European museums the director or a keeper 

 of one of the divisions is sent yearly on a tour of study to other 

 museums. Here we have as yet to beg for such absolutely necessary 

 privileges, but as we are not united into one association little notice is 

 taken of individual utteiances and counsels, and the whole matter 

 remains hi stat/u quo. 



A "land and immediate result of the formint;- of such an associa- 



