1895. SOME CASUAL THOUGHTS ON MUSEUMS. 325 



over-weighted or wrecked foreign ship. There ought also to be care- 

 fully drawn sections of the curved lines which the laminae of sand 

 take in the sand-beds of the drift, so that country yokels should have 

 some antidote to the nonsense they may find in geological manuals, 

 where long, continuous, swirling curves, very often reversed, are 

 frequently attributed to the pounding of icebergs or to the internal 

 economy of that mysterious absurdity, a ground moraine. Every well, 

 every mine, and every quarry should, when possible, have the facts it 

 discloses shown graphically either by a model or drawing, preferably 

 a model. In table-cases the typical fossils should be placed with 

 specimens of recent forms, showing what the broken and distorted 

 fossils really mean and what they once were. Some drawings of the 

 animals should also be given, for we have to deal with people who 

 know nothing, or next to nothing; and when a specimen or a series of 

 specimens in a museum ceases to teach something, its further use is 

 not very obvious. 



These are only dislocated sentiments, but they condense a theory 

 of geological museums which is not generally adopted, and may 

 suggest a few thoughts to others. I am told that an interesting 

 paper on geological museums was read at the recent meeting of the 

 Museums' Association. This I have not had the advantage of seeing, 

 for I am far away from England ; but it is clear that others besides 

 myself look forward to better things in such institutions, and the critic 

 sometimes must precede the reformer. I have more to say, but it 

 will keep for another paper. 



Henry H. Howorth. 



