188 THE AMEl{l('.\y MI'SKIM .lOlUSAL 



It is a curious fact tliat models of scenes illu>lratiii;c tlie occupations of 

 savaf,^e or little-known races of men apparently arouse greater interest 

 when in miniature, attracting more attention than full-size reproductions. 

 This is true partly l)ecause in the small j^roiip the wliolc scene can l)e f^rasped 

 at once as in a j)icture, but especially because of human interest lent the 

 exhibit by the fact that we know some one wrought the entire work — figures, 

 landscape and all. It is this latter tliat explains in j^art the interest 

 taken in the Habitat Groups of Birds, which is due not merely to the skillful 

 reproduction of nature but to the fact that it is a rejjroduction, that wa\ing 

 branches and jagged rocks have been deftly imitated by the hand of man. 

 The admiration of the observer is not entirely for the grouj); a part goes 

 to the brain that devised it and to the hand that wrought it. 



A museum may display pigeons or fowl as examples of variation under 

 domestication, but the average visitor sees them merely as birds with which 

 he has an actual acquaintance and in which he is personally interested. 

 He probal)ly has not the least idea of the origin of our domesticated birds, 

 he has never given the matter a thought, but the chances are that out of 

 many observers a few will have their interest aroused, note the fact that 

 in one case the rock pigeon and in the other the jimgle fowl is the original 

 stock from which our multifarious birds have been derived, and come to 

 realize that what man has done rapidly on a small scale, Nature has l)een 

 doing slowly on a grand scale ever since life originated on this planet of ours. 

 Incidentally he may be led to reflect on the work of Darwin and others in 

 formulating and expounding the theory of evolution. Here are apparent 

 the direct human interest and the manner in which the casual visitor is led 

 by something with which he is acf|uainted to something which he has never 

 considered. 



In other cases the road is not so evident, but there is generally some 

 point of contact between visitor and object. The problem for the museum 

 is to find this point of contact. A foraminifer is a very abstract thing to 

 most peoi)le, l)ut a piece of nummulitic limestone, of which the pyramids 

 are built, or a bit of chalk supplies the human interest and puts the visitor 

 in touch, very lightly though it be, with the simpler forms of life, suggesting 

 the part they play in everyday life and the direct concern he may ha\-e in 

 these apparently insignificant creatures. 



It may be granted that the necessary human touch is not to be found 

 in each and every object in a science museum — as perhaps is likely to be 

 the case in a museum of history or art — or in every part of an exhibit, 

 although it may be present in the exhibit as a whole. The point that the 

 museum bears in mind is, that whenever possible, some link between the 

 facts of the exhibit and the interests and experiences of the observers must 

 be brought forward and emphasized. 



