620 



NATURE 



[October 29, 1891 



sideration as to whether the means will be forthcoming to 

 maintain them in a state of efficiency. 



I have alluded to the Piit-Rivers Collection as coming 

 partly under this head, but, admirably and instructively 

 displayed as it now is, it may also be considered as be- 

 longing to my second category ; and the numerous human 

 interests awakened by a study of its contents, and the 

 many branches of culture it comes in ontact with, make 

 it an adjunct to the Museum, of the great importance of 

 which no one should entertain a doubt. I should be glad 

 to remark, in passing, that the building in which it is 

 housed appears to me the most successful, as regards 

 economy of space, capacity for orderly arrangement, and 

 good lighting, of any with which I am acquainted. 



The next point for consideration is the nature and 

 extent of the subjects to be illustrated in the Museum (ex- 

 cluding the special Pitt-Rivers Collection just referred to). 

 These seem already to have been determined as including 

 physiology, human anatomy, comparative anatomy ,animal 

 morphology, zoology, pathological anatomy, palaeonto- 

 logy, geology, and mineralogy ; therefore the whole of 

 animal biology (botany being provided for elsewhere), with 

 the addition of geology and mineralogy. The teaching 

 of these subjects is divided between the Regius Professor 

 of Medicine, the Waynflete Professor of Physiology, the 

 Linacre Professor of Human and Comparative Anatomy, 

 the Lecturer in Human Anatomy, the Hope Professor of 

 Zoology, the Professors of Geology and of M ineralogy. It 

 must be recognized by everyone that the boundaries of 

 these subjects are most difficult to define, and must be 

 constantly shifting with the advance of knowledge. For 

 instance, comparative anatomy and palaeontology may 

 both be included under the broad general heading of 

 zoology, which without the aid of both can be but im- 

 perfectly understood. Whatever dividing lines are drawn 

 between different sections of the collection, identical 

 specimens are often required to illustrate more than one 

 subject. The remains of extinct animals are required to 

 complete the story of their living representatives ; they 

 are also required to illustrate the ancient history of the 

 earth, and to define the progress of geological time and the 

 order and succession of strata. The relation between the 

 collections used to illustrate the teaching of the Waynflete, 

 the Lin . e, and the Hope Professors, must also be more 

 or less arbitrary and artificial. In all these matters mutual 

 convenience must be studied, and the specimens which lie 

 on the borderland of two subjects should be made in 

 some way available for the teaching of both, otherwise a 

 great dupHcation will be necessary. 



With regard to general administration, it appears to 

 me desirable that there should be a governing body for 

 the whole Museum, comparable to the standing com- 

 mittee of the Trustees of the British Museum, or the 

 Museum Committee of the Royal College of Surgeons, or 

 the Museums Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. 

 The Delegates constitute such a body at Oxford, but 

 possibly their constitution or powers might be modified 

 and more clearly defined than they seem to be at present. 



This body should be composed of members of the 

 University specially selected for fitness for the office ; 

 seven or nine would probably be the most convenient 

 number, so that representatives may be found upon it of 

 various branches of science included in the Museum, and 

 also some members of general business or administrative 

 capacity. They should meet at occasional and stated 

 intervals, and should determine general questions affect- 

 ing the Museum as a whole, the relations of its com- 

 ponent elements one to another, the allotment of space 

 and the apportionment of the grants for the service of each 

 department, the general control of expenditure, and also 

 the care of the building, furniture, &c. It is not advisable 

 that they should interfere with the details of the arrange- 

 ment of each department as long as these appear to be 



NO. I 148, VOL. 44] 



satisfactorily carried out. The Keeper of the Museum 

 should be the active executive officer of this governing 

 body, carrying out their views in the intervals of the 

 meetings, and bringing before their notice any subjects 

 which seem to require their consideration. 



Each professor, as the representative of the most ad- 

 vanced state of knowledge of his subject, should be the 

 responsible cui-ator of the specimens belonging to his 

 department, having such assistance provided him as may 

 be needful. He should be called upon to present to the 

 governing body an annual report of the condition of the 

 collections under his care, and of the accessions which 

 have been made to it during the year. 



The actual specimens in the various collections will 

 naturally arrange themselves, both as regards the purpose 

 for which they are kept, and their mode of conservation, 

 under three distinct classes. 



1. A working set, mostly of common objects, which, if 

 damaged, can be readily replaced, and which can be put 

 at the disposition of the ordinary student to examine and 

 handle. Such collections are absolutely essential to prac- 

 tical teaching, but they should form no part of the per- 

 manent Museum of the University, and should be kept 

 in the rooms specially devoted to study. 



2. The permanent exhibited series displayed in the 

 grand court and corridors of the Museum, the use of 

 which, in addition to teaching students, is referred to 

 under the heading B, near the beginning of this report. 

 Great care is required in selecting and arranging these, 

 as well as in their preservation and display. Every 

 specimen exhibited should have a definite object, and 

 should be so placed that it can be thoroughly well seen. 

 As a general rule they should be so arranged as to show 

 what they are intended to teach without moving them 

 from their places, and if this must be done under proper 

 restrictions, all due precautions should be used that they 

 do not become damaged or destroyed. Although for the 

 purposes of custody, arrangement, and nomenclature, 

 these must be under the care of a particular professor, 

 they are in a certain sense the common property of all 

 who have a right of access to the Museum. This is 

 another reason for not removing them from their places 

 (apart from the injury that might thereby accrue to them) 

 without definite cause, as they should be always available 

 for study, the professors and demonstrators rather 

 bringing their classes to them than removing them to the 

 class-rooms. 



3. The collections kept for advanced researches. 

 Although these are not exhibited in the ordinary sense of 

 the word, they should, if retained at all, be kept in a 

 situation and under conditions which make them readily 

 accessible to all who can profit by their examination under 

 suitable regulations. Their preservation is of the utmost 

 importance in the progress of science, as among them 

 are often to be found zoological " types," or the individual 

 specimens upon which the name of the species was in- 

 stituted, and which must be referred to by zoolof^ists for 

 all future time in cases of difficulty in determining that 

 name. To permit the loss or deterioration of a " type " 

 specimen is a serious offence in the eyes of the zoo- 

 logist. The Hope Collection abounds in such types. 



Nothing more need be said at present about the first 

 and third of these sections of the Museum, but the 

 second, the exhibited series occupying the body of the 

 great hall, requires consideration in a little more detail. 



It is divided at present into — 



(i) Mineralogy. Of the value and arrangement of this 

 section I am not competent to speak. 



(2) Geology. This collection is mainly palasontological, 

 and the arrangement appears to be partly stratigraphical 

 and partly zoological. In many groups the collection is 

 rich, but taking it altogether there appears to be a number 

 of unnecessary duplicates, and much rearrangement is 



