August 29, 1889] 



NATURE 



427 



the most convenient centre for those interested in ship construc- 

 tion, especially considering the small amount of ship-building 

 operations now conducted on the Thames. But it has been 

 show n that there is a very strong sentiment among those inter- 

 ested in shipping in favour of the retention of the ship models 

 in their present home, and the following are some of the prac- 

 tical reasons given in support of this view, by the Institute of 

 Naval Architects and others : — 



(1) The shipping companies and other owners of the large 

 ornamental models have, it is said, declined to lend iheir 

 property for permanent exhibition elsewhere than at South 

 Kensington. 



(2) The naval collections are closely connected with the 

 Machinery and Inventions Section of the Museum. 



(3) Being at South Kensington, the departmental system of 

 circulation can, it is said, be applied to them. 



This latter remark only applies in practice to a small portion 

 of the collection, viz. the model?, &c., illustrative of the details 

 of ship construction. The large models of ships do not belong 

 to the Department, and in any case are too large and too 

 valuable to be sent round, under the plea of some slight educa- 

 tional utility, to local schools of elementary science ; though, 

 under special circumstances, some of them have been lent by 

 their owners to Exhibitions in the provinces, or even at Paris. 



On the whole, we have arrived at the conclusion that it would 

 be practically impossible to reconcile public opinion to the 

 removal of this collection elsewhere, and that space must 

 therefore be provided for it at South Kensington. 



For this collection 10,500 square feet were demanded at once 

 by the committee referred to in Sir F. Bramwell's Report, with 

 an increase of 10,000 square feet. The space at present occupied 

 Js 15,374 square feet, or three-fourths of the maximum desired 

 by the special committee. We consider that the present space 

 should suffice, under proper administration, for an adequate 

 exposition of the methods and results of the very important 

 national industry of shipbuilding. In connection with this 

 conclusion we would observe that, in our opinion — 



(i) A certain number of the objects now exhibited could be 

 eliminated " without injury to the value or representative 

 character of the collections " ; and the fact that so much of the 

 space is occupied by large ornamental models of ships, many of 

 them on loan, would facilitate such elimination, when required 

 for the introduction of new examples. 



(2) Having regard to the fine historical and practical collection 

 of war ships which exists at Greenwich, anri is readily accessible 

 to the general public, the portion of the South Kensington col- 

 lection which relates to ships of war should be reduced to a 

 minimum. It now occupies twenty pages of the catalogue, in 

 which fifty-three numbers are described. 



(3) The additions to the collection, other than in substitution 

 for objects eliminated, should mainly consist of diagrams or small 

 models of /ar/.f of ships or machinery, suited for practical in- 

 struction in the art of ship-building. Such objects would be of 

 use for circulation, and would not occupy any considerable 

 amount of space. 



10. Fish Culture Coll ction. — No mention of this collection is 

 made in the departmental scheme of classification dated January 

 1888 ; and indeed it seems to bear little relation to the instruc- 

 tion given in the Normal School, to the teaching in science classes 

 connected with the Department, or to the other sections of the 

 Science Museum. Nor is South Kensington a situation naturally 

 well adapted for fish-breeding operations. We beg to refer to 

 the weighty opinion of Prof Huxley as to the want of connection 

 between this collection and its present surroundings, and the 

 small educational or scientific value which it possesses in its 

 present condition. 



The greater part of this collection was bequeathed to the 

 Department in 1880 by the late Mr. Frank Buckland, and a 

 series of British fi.'-hes has, since that date, been presented to it 

 by Dr. Day. This state of things would, however, in our 

 opinion, hardly prevent the Department from transferring the 

 collection to some other public institution. The Buckland Pro- 

 fessorship, if the funds for its support are still available, might 

 well be attached to the Marine Biological Laboratory at 

 Plymouth, under regulations agreed to by the Science and Art 

 Department. With the cons .nt of the donors (when obtainable), 

 some objects now forming part of this collection might find a 

 place in the Natural Hist ny Museum ; and the remainder might 

 be transferred to the Marine Biolog'cal Association, and the 

 Scotch Fishery Board, provided that tho.e bodies are able and 



willing to receive them. In any circumstances we are of opinion 

 that there is no necessity for the collection being retained at 

 South Kensington, and certainly no provision should be made for 

 it in any building scheme there. 



The large State barge and Venetian gondola now housed in 

 the same galleries as the fish collection should also be removed. 



11. Circulation. — With regard to that portion of the reference 

 to us which relates to the system of circulation of objects in the 

 provinces, we should explain that two different systems are 

 comprised under that name. Under one of these, objects 

 forming an integral part of the collections are lent by the 

 Department, for a limited period, to local museums. This in 

 the case of the science collections is only done on a small scale ; 

 the space so vacated is insignificant and cannot be utilized for 

 other purposes, and it has therefore no practical bearing on the 

 housing of the collections. The other kind of circulation is 

 confined to science schools in connection with the Department. 

 It consists in the loan of a typical set of objects and apparatus 

 suitable for the teaching of one branch or another of science, 

 such as chemistry, geology, &c., with a view to improve the 

 practical portion of local teaching. These circulating sets are 

 never regularly exhibited at South Kensington, and therefore 

 can only require a small a 1 ount of warehouse space for storage 

 and arrangement. If the system of circulation grows, some 

 additional warehouse space may be required, but no increase in 

 the exhibition space would be involved. 



12. The frequent mention in this Report of areas of exhibition 

 space .suffices to indicate how inevitably the question of housing 

 the collections has been forced on our attention, notwithstanding 

 that it does not explicitly form part of the terms of reference to 

 us. In suggesting certain areas as, in our opinion, sufficient to 

 meet the requirements of the case, we have assumed that the 

 exhibition buildings should be well arranged, well lighted, and 

 of a durable character. These requisites, however, are not 

 fulfilled in the case of the Southern Galleries, the upper floor of 

 which is, we are informed and believe, incapable of supporting 

 considerable weights, so that collections of machinery cannot be 

 placed in that portion of the building. It may also be observed 

 that these galleries apjiear not to be well secured against fire. 

 The rent of ;^i50o per annum is paid for the central block of 

 this building, for the capitalized value of which sum a larger and 

 more convenient building could apparently be erected. The 

 present state of dispersion of the Museum involves extra expense 

 in connection with the entrances, attendants, and police, and 

 also increases the difficulty of an efficient superintendt-nce by the 

 superior officers in charge of the collections. W^e feel bound to 

 call attention to these facts, which have been forcibly impressed 

 on irs by our observations on the spot as well as by the evidence 

 we have received. 



13. We have already adverted to another matter which, 

 though outside the literal terms of reference to us, is in our judg- 

 ment of the very greatest importance in regard to the substance 

 of the questions under consideration. We allude to the organiza- 

 tion for the custody and management of the collection-^^. At 

 present this duty rests, under the Secretary, with the staff of the- 

 Director of the Museum, whose functions cover both the Art and 

 the Science divisions, which differ widely from one another. 

 Attached, however, to each section of the Museum is a separate 

 consultative committee ; which, for the collections of scientific 

 instruments and appliances, consists of the professors of the 

 Normal School ; while in the case of the other sections, the 

 corrmittees consist of gentlemen external to the Department. 

 These committees can only recommend, not decide ; and even 

 when their recommendations are adopted, it does not follow that 

 they can see that they are carried out. To committees of this- 

 kiiid the task of refusing unsuitable loans is also peculiarly 

 difficult and irksome ; and there is also some danger of different 

 committees causing overlapping between different portions of the 

 collections, although we have no reason to think that this has as 

 yet happened. On the other hand, there seems to be nosyste n 

 of regular meetings of the committees at prescribed intervals- 

 (oftener than once a year), and regard being had to the composi- 

 tion of the committees, it is not to be expected that many mem- 

 bers of them should be able to devote much time to this work, 

 certainly not to the detailed and continuous supervision which- 

 collections require. It must not be supposed that nothing has 

 been gained from the existence of these committees ; on the con- 

 trary, Mr. Cowper's work on the machine collections is an> 

 instance of the excellent service which individual members have 

 rendered. But we consider the system defective in principle. 



