December 4, 1919] 



NATURE 



53 



OOJ 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



[The Editor docs not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- 

 pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to 

 JH return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manu- 

 ^t^ scripts intended for this or any other part of Nature. 

 ^^k. No not:ce is taken of anonymous communications.] 



^H Progress of the Natural History Museum. 



^H^Tim admirable survey of scientific progress pub- 

 ^^nshed in the jubilee number of Nature on November 6 

 has received the most cordial appreciation of your 

 numerous readers. May I be allowed to direct atten- 

 tion to one or two omissions, without being supposed 

 to dissociate myself from the universal chorus of 

 approval ? 



The removal of the natural history collections of 

 the British .Museum from Bloomsbury and the increase 

 in their importance afterwards are events which 

 deserve notice, even though the South Kensington 

 branch of the museum was perhaps omitted from 

 your survey on the ground that it was a new home 

 for e.\isting collections, and not an institution which 

 originated during the period under review. The actual 

 removal took place in 1882-83, and the years which 

 have followed have been marked by an extraordinary 

 growth in the collections, associated with a record of 

 scientific research which is equally remark:ible. It 

 must not be forgotten that the accurate discrimination 

 of the species of animals, plants, and minerals is a 

 fundamental part of the respective sciences. Even 

 though the philosophical biologist is sometimes inclined 

 to underrate the work of the svstematist, he is fre- 

 quently obliged to turn to him for information with 

 regard to the facts from which he derives his results. 

 The far-reaching conclusions which are based on the 

 study of geographical distribution lose their value if 

 they depend on erroneous determinations of species, 

 while the study of evolution is equallv dependent on 

 the labours of the .systematist. In bringing together 

 an unrivalled collection of specimens and in publishing 

 a notable series of memoirs dealing with it, the 

 naturalists of the British Museum have taken their full 

 share in the scientific progress of the last fiftv years. 



The number of specimens in the department of 

 zoology (including entomology), omitting those re- 

 garded as duplicates, has been estimated as having 

 been about 1,400,000 at the time of the removal to 

 South Kensington in 1882-83. Successive estimates 

 have been 2,245,000 in 1895, 3,060,000 in 1904, 

 S,()6o,oco in 1917, and about 6,000.000 at the time of 

 writing. The other departments of the museum have 

 also increased at a rapid rate. Thousands of forms 

 new to .science have been described, and the type- 

 specimens are preserved in the collection. In spite of 

 the magnitude of the task, the specimens have been 

 arranged so carefullv that most of them can be found 

 without difflcultv when they are required for study. 



In addition to this side oif its activities, the museum 

 has done much for scientific education by the way in 

 which a part of its treasures have been exhibited in 

 the public galleries. The requirements of visitors who 

 are principallv interested in the systematic arrange- 

 ment of natural historv objects are amply provided 

 for; and, to take a single instance, the exhibited 

 series of large mammals is not equalled in any otiier 

 museum. Other exhibits of a more general nature are 

 shown in the central hall, where may be seen illustra- 

 tions of the principal tvpes of structure found in the 

 several classes of vertebrates, inaugurated by (he late 

 Sir W. H. Flower, a former Director; a series of cases 

 containing objects bearing on the theory of evolution; 

 models and specimens of insects and .\rachnids instru- 

 mental in carrving diseases ; and other exhibits of 

 general interest. The evolution of animals, as illus- 



NO. 2614, VOL. 104] 



trated by their geological history, can be studied in 

 the pal»ontological galleries, and particular attention 

 may be directed to the series of elephants and their 

 presumed ancestors to be found among the treasures 

 of the gallery of fossil mammals. The series of 

 nesting-birds and eggs, arranged on a system which 

 was itself a new departure, deserves special mention. 

 •Attention may also be directed to the great develop- 

 ment of the collection of domesticated animals, and to 

 the wonderful series of specimens in the mineral 

 gallery. 



In noting the progress of the Natural Historv 

 Museum it is appropriate to refer to the fundamental 

 alteration which has taken place during the last fiftv' 

 years in the conception of the functions of museums 

 in general. It is now admitted that the museum is a 

 place which ought to exergise an educational influence, 

 and there is an increasing desire to arrange the ex- 

 hibits in such a way as to teach some defiriite lesson. 

 It has, moreover, been recognised that the bio- 

 logical sciences are of great economic importance, as 

 is shown, for instance, by the extraordinary advances 

 vvhich have been made in preventive medicine by the' 

 discovery that the parasitic organisms giving rise to 

 certain diseases are transmitted by blood-sucking 

 animals. In this field of research the work of the 

 systematic zoologist is of special importance, since 

 it is essential to be able to distinguish the species of 

 insect or other carrier of the pathogenic organism 

 from its near allies which are harmless in this respect. 

 In dealing with economic questions of this kind, and 

 of many others, the Natural History Museum has done 

 its full share, and its function as a consultative bodv 

 capable of giving valuable information on matters of 

 practical moment has become an important side of its 

 activities. 



The action of the then Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies in calling a meeting in iqoq for placing 

 entomological research in our tropical Possessions in 

 .Africa on a proper basis is an event which ought not 

 to pa.ss unrecorded. The immediate result was the 

 establishment of the Entomological Research Com- 

 mittee (Tropical .Africa), now the Imperial Bureau of 

 Entomology. .Short as its life has been at present, the 

 Bureau has fully justified its existence, and it has 

 become an important centre of research, the utliitv of 

 which is cordially recognised in all parts of the Empire. 

 It alreadv possesses a wide influence, and it mav fairlv 

 be anticipated that it will become increasinglv im- 

 portant in promoting researches tending to reduce the 

 ravages of sleeping sickness, malaria, and manv other 

 diseases which have taken a heavy toll of the life of 

 man and domesticated animals in the oast. The 

 Trustees of the British Museum associated themselves 

 from the first with this new departure, and orovided 

 such accommodation at the Natural Historv .Museum 

 as thev were able to spare for the Director of the 

 Bureau and a part of his staff. 



Mav I, in conclusion, direct attention to another 

 side of biological activitv which deserves notice? The 

 foundation of the Marine Biolo£?ical .Association in 

 18S4 led to the erection of the Plymouth Laboratory, 

 which has had a most successful career, in spite of 

 the difTiculties due to insufficient funds, in promoting 

 the studv of marine biology, including practical ques- 

 tions of great importance connected with the fishing 

 industrv. .Althout'h not the first institution of this 

 kind to be founded in this countrv, the Plymouth 

 T^aboratorv, with those on the CIvdo. in the Isle of 

 Man, and at St. Andrews and Cullercoats, has 

 become an indisnensable part of the biological equip- 

 ment of Great Britain. S. F. Harmer. 

 British Museum CNatural History), 

 November 17. 



