82 FRESH DEMONSTRATIONS. 



refitting and renewing of the old than any building up 

 or re-construction of new materials. Skeletons were 

 rearticulated, osseous specimens were mounted on 

 stands, wet preparations were restored and redisplayed 

 in spirit; and an improved appearance given to the 

 entire collection. The new preparations put up by 

 him are included in the manuscript of the general 

 catalogue, written in his own handwriting — Nos. 

 2222 to 2270, including 29 pathological (both surgi- 

 cal and medical), and 20 specimens of comparative 

 anatomy, principally from the conger eel, dog -fish, 

 and the American ostrich. The character of his work 

 is visible enough for its neatness and the clear 

 exposition of what should be made apparent in 

 each preparation. In November 1842 Goodsir pro- 

 posed to the curators to demonstrate the preparations 

 in the museum to the medical students on Satur- 

 days — a great boon to those who wished to avail 

 themselves of a thoroughly practical acquaintance 

 with the collection. These demonstrations assumed 

 very much the character of lectures, and not unlike 

 those given in summer. 



If the College of Surgeons' Museum benefited by 

 the Goodsir curatorship, the curator himself derived 

 considerable advantages during his tenure of office. 

 The variety and extent of the collection afforded 

 much light to a man gifted with precision of observa- 

 tion, and that observation materially heightened by 

 the use of the microscope. Possessing experienced 

 manipulative and good ocular powers, Goodsir sue- 



