Dec. 26, 1889] 



NATURE 



177 



among the rocks on the sea-shore ; but whether the place of their 

 capture was above or below high-watermark, is not stated on the 

 ticket with which the specimens are labelled. 



Dr. Grube's specimens were taken at St. Malo. 



December 17. R. I. PocoCK. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR THE FORMATION AND 

 ARRANGEMENT OF A MUSEUM OF 

 NATURAL HISTORY IN CONNECTION 

 WITH A PUBLIC SCHOOL. 



HAVING lately been asked by Dr. Warre, Head 

 Master of Eton, to give him some assistance in the 

 fitting up, arrangement, and management of the museum 

 about to be inaugurated at that College, I put down 

 some notes, which he was pleased to think might be of 

 use in pointing out the lines that should be followed with 

 most advantage. As these notes are equally applicable 

 to other school museums, I venture to publish them for 

 the information of those who may be in position to profit 

 by them, premising that they are mere outlines, which are 

 susceptible of much elaboration in detail, and of some 

 modifications according to special circumstances. 



The subjects best adapted for such a museum are 

 zoology, botany, mineralogy, and geology. 



Everything in the museum should have some distinct 

 object, coming under one or other of the above subjects, 

 and under one or other of the series defined below, and 

 everything else should be rigorously excluded. The 

 curator's business will be quite as much to keep useless 

 specimens out of the museum, as to acquire those that are 

 useful. 



The two series or categories under which the admissible 

 specimens should come are the following : — (i) Specimens 

 illustrating the teaching of the natural history subjects 

 adopted in the school, arranged in the order in which the 

 subjects are, or ought to be, taught. (2) Some special 

 sets of specimens of a nature to attract boys to the study 

 of such branches of natural history as readily lie in 

 the path of their ordinar)' life, especially their school 

 life, and to teach them some of the common objects they 

 see around them. 



The specimens of the first class should be all good of 

 their kind, carefully prepared and displayed, and fully 

 labelled. They should also be so arranged that they can 

 be seen and studied without being removed from their 

 position in the case or in any way disturbed or dama^^ed. 

 It would be best that they should never be taken out of the 

 museum, but if it is necessary to remove them for the 

 purpose of demonstration at lectures or classes, special 

 provision should be made by which a whole tray or case 

 can be moved together, with due precautions against dis- 

 turbing the individual specimens. As a rule, the teachers 

 should either bring the classes into the museum for 

 demonstrations, or they should rely upon a different set 

 of specimens kept in store in the class-rooms, and only 

 brought out when required, and which may be handled 

 and examined without fear of injury. Really good per- 

 manent preparations may be looked at, but not touched 

 except by very skilled hands. 



In zoology the collection should consist of illustrations 

 of the principal modifications of animal forms, living and 

 extinct, a few selected typical examples of each being 

 given, showing the anatomy and development as well as the 

 external form. The series now in the course of arrange- 

 ment in the Central Hall of the Natural History branch 

 of the British Museum, in the Cromwell Road, may, as 

 far as it is complete, be taken as a guide, but for a school 

 museum it will not be necessary to enter so fully into 

 detail as in that series. 



In botany there should be a general morphological 

 collection, showing the main modifications of the different 

 organs in the greater groups into which the vegetable 



kingdom is divided, and illustrating the terms used in 

 describing these modifications. Such a collection may 

 also be seen (although still far from complete) in the same 

 institution. 



For a teaching collection of minerals, an admirable 

 model has for several years past been exhibited in the 

 Mineralogical Gallery of the Natural History Museum, 

 being, in fact, the various paragraphs of Mr. Fletcher's 

 " Introduction to the Study of Minerals " cut up, and with 

 the statements in each illustrated by a choice specimen. 



The geological collection would best be limited mainly 

 .to a series illustrating the rocks and characteristic fossils 

 of the British Isles, arranged stratigraphically. There 

 would be no difficulty in making such a series on any 

 scale, according to the space available, and if well selected 

 and arranged, it would be extremely instructive and form 

 a complete epitome of the whole subject. It should be 

 placed in a continuous series along one side of the room, 

 beginning with the oldest and ending with the most recent 

 formations. It might be preceded by some general 

 specimens illustrating the various kinds of rock struc- 

 tures, &c. 



Mineral and fossil specimens are generally to'be pro- 

 cured as wanted from the dealers, and as they require 

 little or no preparation, collections illustrating these sub- 

 jects can be quickly made, if money is available for the 

 purpose. This is not, however, the case with zoological 

 and botanical specimens, most of which require labour, 

 skill, and knowledge to be expended upon their prepara- 

 tion before they can be preserved in such a manner as to 

 make them available for permanent instruction. 



We will next proceed to consider what objects may be 

 included under the second head, many of which need 

 not be constantly exhibited, but may be preserved in 

 drawers for special study. These may be — 



(i) A well-named collection of the commoner British 

 insects, especially those of the neighbourhood in which 

 the school is situated, with their larvae, which should (if 

 means will allow) be mounted on models of the plants 

 upon which they feed. All should have their localities 

 and the date of capture carefully recorded. These are 

 best kept in a cabinet, with glass-topped drawers, with a 

 stop behind, so as to allow them to be pulled out for 

 inspection, but not entirely removed. Such a collection, 

 formed of specimens prepared and presented by Lord 

 Walsingham, can now be seen in the British Room of the 

 Natural History Museum. 



(2) A similar collection of British shells, especially the 

 land and freshwater shells of the neighbourhood. 



(3) If space and means allow, a collection of British 

 birds, especially the best-known and more interesting 

 species. Rare and occasional visitors, reckoned in the 

 books as British, which are the most expensive and 

 difficult to procure, are the least important for such a col- 

 lection. Variations in plumage in young and old, and at 

 different seasons, should be shown in some common 

 species. Every specimen must be good and well mounted, 

 or it is not worth placing in the museum. 



(4) The principal British mammals of smaller size, 

 especially the bats, shrews, and mice. 



(5) The British reptiles, Amphibia, and commoner 

 fishes, so shown that their distinctive characters may be 

 recognized. 



(6) A collection, as complete as may be, of British 

 plants, or at all events of the plants of the neighbour- 

 hood. By far the best way of preserving and exhibiting 

 such a collection is in glazed frames, movably hinged 

 upon an upright stand, as may be seen in the Botanical 

 Gallery of the Natural History Museum. A collection 

 arranged in this manner should find a place in every 

 local museum of natural history. 



(7) A collection of the fossils found in the quarries of 

 the neighbourhood, should there be any. 



Every collection or series should be kept perfectly dis- 



