THE STORY OF MUSEUM GROUPS 



standard sizes, assembled along the side 

 of a large hall. The collection, which 

 was begun not far from 1858, was be- 

 cjueathed to the town of Brighton in 

 1890, and is known as the Booth Mu- 

 seum, and we earnestly hope that it may 

 endure for many years to come. 



Montagu Brown of Leicester adopted 

 the methods of Mr. Booth and a little 

 later, through the instrumentality of R. 

 Bowdler Sharpe, the first small " habitat 

 group" of the coot was installed in the 

 British Museum. Now it is rather 

 interesting to note that some naturalists 

 who are best known by their scientific 

 work, and are usually regarded l)y the 



public as being of the dry-as-dust type, 

 were among the earliest advocates of 

 naturalistic methods in museum exhibits. 

 Thus, to Dr. Sharpe, whose enduring 

 monument is the British Museum Cata- 

 logue of Birds, and to Dr. Gunther, best 

 known for his systematic work on fishes, 

 we are indebted for the introduction 

 of groups into a great public museum 

 and for obtaining for them the recogni- 

 tion of a scientific institution of long 

 standing. 



The installation of bird groups in the 

 British Museum made good progress 

 under the administration of Sir William 

 Flower, who took especial interest in the 



R. BOWDLER SHARPE 

 Under whose auspices the first of the bird groups was installed in the British Museum 



