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THE LOCAL MUSEUM, AND ITS RELATION 
TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE DISTRICT. 
By JAMES ARLOSH, M.A.” 
(Read at Carlisle. ) 
THE great end and aim ever to be kept in view, as it seems to me, 
by the managers of a Local Museum, is the collection of all 
objects of interest peculiar to the district or county in which it is 
situated. But by “objects of interest” I do not mean monstros- 
_ ities, or abnormal forms, such as white blackbirds or two-headed 
calves. I mean a carefully arranged, classified, and named 
collection of specimens of every Bird, Beast, Insect, or Reptile to 
_ be found in the district; supplemented, of course, by every relic 
of Antiquity, and by specimens of all the Minerals which can be 
obtained. 
A miscellaneous gathering together of a number of stuffed 
birds and beasts from every quarter of the globe—Warblers, Pies, 
and Seabirds, Finches and Hawks, jostling each other in sweet 
_ confusion—is only puzzling to the visitor, who wants information 
accurately and clearly given, of the objects of natural interest to 
be found in any given area. 
I will confine myself to speaking this day upon that branch 
of my general subject with which I am best acquainted : the Birds 
and Beasts of Cumberland. No detail is too minute to be care- 
_ fully recorded; and if there were a County Museum in every 
County Town in England, arranged as I would have it, I am 
certain that many most curious additions would be made to the 
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