( xl ) 



advantages under which we now labour as compared with our 

 piedecessors. First and foremost among the present advant- 

 ages of coui-se comes the facility of intehcommunication. 

 Journeys to foreign lands were then matters of months, and 

 often years ; now one may examine nearly all the type 

 collections of Europe in a few weeks — I hope however that 

 in the next few years much more will be done to systematise 

 this, as at present one day is often lost after arrival at some 

 city in finding out where a type collection is located, while 

 perhaps when the museum is found it may turn out that it 

 is not open on that day in the week. As a rule these 

 difficulties are not insurmountable to any well-known student 

 in any special group ; but an immense gain to science could 

 be given by the production of a small international guide to 

 all the important collections, stating when they were open for 

 examination by students, where they were situated in the 

 various cities and towns, and who was the best person to apply 

 to for assistance when the collection was found. I mention 

 for instance one of my own out of many such experiences : 

 when I went to Stockholm the only clue I could find to the 

 Natural History Museum was that it was in the Prinzenpalais. 

 The collection in the Prinzenpalais was very soon found, but 

 it was mainly geological and arcbteological, and it took some 

 time to find out that I must go to the K. vetenskaps Academic, 

 at 94 Drottninggade, where the collections are open from 

 ten to four daily, and as soon as I made the acquaintance 

 of Professor Aurivillius my troubles were at an end, and 

 every possible assistance was given to me. Time is of even 

 more value now for a journey of a few weeks than it used to 

 be for one of as many months. Postage now is a matter of 

 infinitely less time and expense than in the earlier half of the 

 century, and here we gain additional advantages almost every 

 year. Language ought to be a gain, inasmuch as education 

 should enable a student to comprehend the meaning of 

 descriptions and notes in any civilised language, and it is very 

 encouraging to us Englishmen to notice how much moi-e 

 fretjuently our own language is made use of l)y foreigners, 

 even in their own 'J'lansactions, because of the moie universal 

 knowledge of that language. Papers by Englishmen in their 



