1 84 SIR WILLIAM FLOWER CHAP. 



necessary books of reference on the particular sub- 

 jects which the specimens illustrate. Also the 

 rooms should be so placed that the officers of the 

 Museum, without too great hindrance to their own 

 work, can be at hand for occasional assistance and 

 supervision of the students." 



Passing from the general to the particular, it may 

 be remarked that at the Natural History Museum 

 all these research collections are entirely in the 

 hands and under the control of the keepers of the 

 different departments, and of the eminent specialists 

 who assist them. It has been noted previously 

 that Flower, on the retirement of Dr. Gtinther, 

 became Keeper of Zoology ; he had then under his 

 general control not only the whole of the divisions 

 of this subject, such as entomology, ornithology, 

 and the mammalia in the "research" collection, 

 but also undertook the immense task of rearrange- 

 ment of the general and exhibited collections in the 

 galleries, according to his conception of how this 

 should be done. 



His general idea on the subject of the second 

 part of a Natural History Museum, that devoted 

 to instruction of the public, was that, unlike the 

 research departments, " the number of the specimens 

 must be strictly limited, according to the nature of 

 the subject to be illustrated and the space available. 

 None must be placed too high or too low for 

 ready examination. There must be no crowding of 

 specimens one behind the other, every one being 



