oe OPENING ADDRESS.—MACGREGOR. 
himself with the industrial state of the Province, and know how 
to rake a judicious selection of its raw materials and of its fin- 
ished products. The successful performance of these varied! 
duties, which is essential to the utility of the museum, demands. 
not only manual dexterity and general good judgment, but also 
a wide knowledge of the natural sciences and a working acquaint- 
ance With their economic aspects. In our special circumstances 
it is desirable also that the curator should possess not only the 
general knowledge of the natural sciences necessary for museum 
work proper, but also a special knowledge of Geology and 
Mineralogy. For our mineral resources are extensive and varied, 
and give promise of yielding a rich reward to careful research. 
And consequently it has been the wise policy of our government 
in the past to combine with the office of Curator of the Museum 
that of Provincial Geologist. , 
But while the primary duties of the curator are to make and 
preserve collections and to render them available and useful to. 
the public, as well as to push forward especially the knowledge 
of our local geology, he may be expected also to make his museum 
an active centre for the diffusion of useful knowledge, by pro- 
viding courses of lectures in connection with it. The Royal 
Commission on Scientific Instruction, the British Association 
committee on provincial museums, and the New South Wales. 
commission on museums and technical schools all recommend this 
policy. And even apart from their authoritative utterances, it is. 
sufficiently obvious, that when at considerable expense, collections 
have been made which form one of the main requisites of 
systematic instruction, such instruction should also be provided. 
In our community a certain demand for such teaching already 
exists. For some years the appreciation of the value of scientific: 
knowledge as a basis for technical pursuits has been steadily 
growing, and the advocates of the founding of a technical school 
have gradually been gaining more and more sympathy and 
support. But the founding of such a school, fully developed at 
the outset, would involve a large expenditure, whereas the 
number of students who would make use of it would in the first 
few years be probably small and fitful. Were such a school 
