222 Memorial of George Brown Goode. 



great improvement in the provincial museums throughout the United 

 Kingdom, but in the establishment of many new ones. 



Comment. — This system appears to have grown out of the suggestion made more 

 than half a century ago by George Rennie and others to the committee on arts and 

 manufactures appointed by the House of Commons. 



2. In the United States the same thing has been attempted in requiring 

 the National Museum, as well as the several Departments of the Govern- 

 ment at Washington, to exhibit in the great expositions which have been 

 held from time to time in the principal cities. This method is much more 

 costly than that employed in Great Britain, and it will scarcely be claimed 

 that it is equally effective. 



VI.— THE PRESERVATION AND PREPARATION OF 

 MUSEUM MATERIALS. 



A. — CONSERVATISM AND TRUTHFULNESS IN THE HANDLING OF MUSEUM 



MATERIALS. 



I. It is not only essential that the full history, locality, original appear- 

 ance, etc. , of each specimen should be fully recorded, but that the speci- 

 men itself should be preserved from mutilation, distortion, and all other 

 harm. Carelessness is the unpardonable sin in a museum worker, and 

 the officers in charge of valuable collections should be held to a strict 

 accountability and if need be placed under bond, not only for the safety, 

 but for the proper treatment of the treasures in their care. Preparators 

 and taxidermists should be kept under the strictest surveillance. 



B.— REPAIRS AND RESTORATION OF SPECIMENS. 



1 . Repairs are legitimate when necessary for the safety or permanent 

 preservation of objects, for keeping together the parts of objects which 

 have been broken, but in the interests of truth and science the fact that 

 an object thus repaired should never be disguised. 



2. This principle applies to natural history specimens, to archaeological 

 objects, and to works of art as well. 



3. Restoration, or the replacing of missing parts, is rarely defensible 

 when in the process of restoration any portion of the original object is 

 covered up. Restorations made in such manner that the part restored 

 is not at once distinguishable are unpardonable. If it is necessary to 

 restore missing parts, the restorations should be made upon a cast or 

 model, and not upon the original. 



Comment. — This principle has reference to hypothetical restorations. It is quite 

 permissible to restore upon the original specimens, in natural history collections, 

 where there are in existence similar specimens from which further guidance may be 

 obtained. 



C. — COPIES. 



I. Copies are available under certain limitations. Sculptures, coins, 

 metal work, tuany ethnographical objects, architectural models, and 



