22 THE FUNCTIONS OF A LOCAL NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
expected to occur in the neighbourhood with a conspicuous 
ticket showing their origin. In this town, however, the subject of 
museums is rather a sore one, and one in which there has been 
woeful retrogression. Rather more than twenty years ago we had 
a museum which really in many departments it would be difficult 
to surpass. This, however, was private property, but the owners, 
who are all now dead, and who were principally three, viz., Sir 
Oswald Mosley, Mr. R. Thornewill, and Mr. Edwin Brown, 
offered to present it to the town on the condition that the cost of 
the rent of the house and its maintenance should be defrayed. 
This generous offer was declined! and rooms were built at 
Rolleston to contain Sir Oswald Mosley’s fine collection of 
birds, etc. Another opportunity, also, was allowed to pass by, for 
when the Institute was built there was no provision made for a 
museum, and I believe that now all the rooms there are fully 
occupied. I hope, however, that this loss may be repaired at 
some future time, and that, although we can never expect to get 
so complete a collection of birds, especially of birds of prey and 
waders, which, thanks to drainage, enclosure, and the gamekeeper, 
are much rarer than they were, we may yet have a useful museum, 
-and I think that when there is another re-arrangement of the 
expenditure of the town charities, a claim may fairly be made for 
this purpose. It is quite useless to attempt to establish a 
museum without the command of sufficient money, for when the 
cost of the rooms, cases, and cabinets is defrayed, an efficient 
curator is an absolute necessity, for, unfortunately, natural history 
specimens require constant care for their preservation, and I have 
frequently seen dreadful examples of the fate experienced by 
collections of birds, insects, and plants deposited in provincial 
museums, a prey to moths, mites, damp, and dust, which render 
them absolutely valueless. 
And, lastly, in many societies an important part of the work is 
the planning of excursions and soirées, by which a pleasant day’s 
amusement is added to increase of knowledge ; for we cannot 
explore either ancient buildings or scenes of natural beauty 
without learning something. 
