58 



you this evening ; and my faitli in this form of illustration has not been 

 shaken since the time when_, little more than a' boy, I adopted the 

 method for showing the evolution of Kingfishers in 1871 (see p. xlv of 

 my Introduction to the ^Monograph/ and fi-ontispiece) . 



It may, however, be said that this is all very good in theory, but how 

 do you propose to put your ideas into practical shape ? This, I confess, 

 touches the root of the matter. My arrangement of the Class " Aves '' 

 is derived from a conviction that the only practical method of teaching 

 or studying Ornithology in the present day is from the standpoint of 

 Evolution, and it is a simple duty to try and arrange the groups of birds 

 on this plan. 



Let us therefore imagine ourselves called upon to take charge of a 

 collection of birds for the instruction of students and of the public in 

 Ornithology. No Museum that I have seen as yet is so constructed 

 that this plan is feasible, and such an arrangement as I have suggested 

 in my map is at present impossible ; nor would it be right to bind 

 posterity by the erection of buildings for the illustration of our own pet 

 theories, which may be upset in the course of time, as theories have often 

 been before now. There may, however, come a day when wall-cases will 

 play a subordinate part, and the illustration of natural objects be carried 

 out by the exhibition of groups, such as Dr. Giinther has adopted 

 in his delineation of our British birds at the Natural History Museum 

 in South Kensington. 



The realization of my ideal plan of a Museum of Bii'ds would require 

 a fivefold division of the subject. 



The first exhibition should be strictly rudimentary, and should 

 instruct the student merely in the technique of Ornithology. This is 

 rapidly being accomplished by Professor Flower at our Natural History 

 Museum in London. A final step perhaps would be to arrange a 

 series of illustrations which should represent the history of the Classifi- 

 cation of Birds from the time of Linnseus to the present day. 



But having instructed our public in the rudimentary and elementary 

 facts connected with Ornithology, it now remains to prepare the figura- 

 tive cases which are to illustrate the forms of birds which now inhabit, 

 or have inhabited, the earth. If the system of teaching by arti stic groups 

 be adopted, then only the principal forms would require illustration, 

 and a representation of the leading type of each order or suborder 

 would suffice. A supplementary gallery might be provided, in which 

 types of each family, subfamily, and genus of birds would be 

 exhibited, but lower than genera I would never descend in a public 

 exhibition. 



The student of species should find his material in the ^'^study " 

 series, which should be under the special care of the Curator, and there 

 each species should be amply illustrated by actual specimens showing 



