248 Me7noj'iaI of George Brown Goode. 



and art to be effective, your health, the air, and your food to be whole- 

 some, your life to be long, your manufactures to improve, j^our trade 

 to increase, and your people to be civilized, you must have museums 

 of science and art, to illustrate the principles of life, health, nature, 

 science, art, and beauty." 



Again, in words as applicable to America of to-day as to Britain 

 in 1874, said he: "A thorough education and a knowledge of science 

 and art are vital to the nation and to the place it holds at present in the 

 civilized world. Science and art are the lifeblood of successful produc- 

 tion. All civilized nations are running a race with us, and our national 

 decline will date from the period when we go to sleep over the work of 

 education, science, and art. What has been done is at the mere threshold 

 of the work yet to be done. ' ' 



The museums of the future in this democratic land should be adapted 

 to the needs of the mechanic, the factory operator, the day laborer, the 

 salesman, and the clerk, as much as to those of the professional man and 

 the man of leisure. It is proper that there be laboratories and profes- 

 sional libraries for the development of the experts who are to organize, 

 arrange, and explain the museums. It is proper that the laboratories be 

 utilized to the fullest extent for the credit of the institution to which 

 they belong. No museum can grow and be respected which does not 

 each year give additional proofs of its claims to be considered a center of 

 learning. 



On the other hand, the public have a right to ask that much shall be 

 done directly in their interest. They will gladly allow the museum 

 officer to use part of his time in study and experiment. They will take 

 pride in the possession by the museum of tens of thousands of specimens, 

 interesting only to the specialists, hidden away perpetually from public 

 view, but necessary for purpose of scientific research. These are founda- 

 tions of the intellectual superstructure which gives the institution its 

 standing. 



Still, no pains must be spared in the presentation of the material in the 

 exhibition halls. The specimens mu.st be prepared in the most careful 

 and artistic manner, and arranged attractively in well-designed cases 

 and behind the clearest of glass. Each object must bear a label, giving 

 its name and history so full}^ that all the probable questions of the visitor 

 are answered in advance. Books of reference must be kept in convenient 

 places. Colors of walls, cases, and labels must be restful and quiet, and 

 comfortable seats .should be everywhere accessible, for the task of the 

 museum visitor is a weary one at best. 



In short, the public museum is, first of all, for the benefit of the pub- 

 lic. When the officers are few in number, each must of necessity devote 

 a considerable portion of his time to the public halls. When the staff 

 becomes larger, it is possible by specialization of work to arrange that 

 certain men may devote their time uninterruptedly to laboratory work, 



