738 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION J. 



4.— THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF MUSEUM COLLECTIONS. 



By ROBERT HALL, C.M.Z.S., F.L.S., Director, Hobart Museum, Tasmania. 



The suggestions given here are offered in the interests of those 

 who are about to extend or form a museum collection. 



The wave of Nature Study which is quietly passing through our 

 midst is causing more than ordinary interest in the subject. 



A curator must be one who knows well, and who fully cares for, 

 the objects under his care. There must be unlimited time available 

 for such a work, with sterling interest. It is desirable to show, so far 

 as is possible, the great chain of Nature, with its principal links; to 

 keep in view an arrangement of its parts as a whole. 



The purposes of a museum might safely be — 



A. To stimulate an interest in (a^) Physiography, (or') Nature, 



by means of life-histories of special utilitarian value; 



B. To make it possible for the " man in the street" to identify 



(by means of a full collection) any object that awaits 

 identification. 



South Kensington is the most perfect exemplification of these 

 points. 



In Dublin, beautiful collections may be seen, illustrating the 

 evolution and geographical distribution of animals. 



In Berlin, extensive dissections are shown, with the specimens, to 

 illustrate the anatomy. 



In Paris (Jardin des Plantes), on the other hand, thousands of 

 specimens are rigidly shown without reference to their natural sur- 

 roundings or their utilitarian value. 



In the museum — as we would have it — we would show clearly by 

 means of specimens and descriptive labels — 



(1) Indexes to the general plan of life; 



(2) Its interesting phases; 



(3) Its economic value. 



The artistic effect of a museum should be kept in view from the 

 first step onwards. First attract the eye, then arrest the attention, 

 the rest will naturally follow. 



It has been found that^ — 



(1) Pale green is a good colour for the background of cases; 



(2) Case-framings should be black or polished black; 



(3) Black blocks are most effective in upright cases as 



pedestals for specimens; 



(4) Dust-proof cases are essential; 



(5) " Stephens's liquid stain," written with a pen in a clear, 



strong hand on a snow-white card, is the most effective for 

 label- writing. It is important that the descriptions should 

 be of an interesting nature. 



We might learn from Continental museums the value of subduing 

 the light on the specimens. In Berlin, not only the windows, but the 

 cases themselves, have blinds. In many museums the damage wrought 

 by over-lighting is irreclaimable — the deleterious effect on colour is 

 noticeable in a year or so. 



