MUSEUMS FOR THE PEOPLE 



inhabits, or the kind of locality it most frequents. A 

 descriptive tablet should of course give further informa- 

 tion ; and in the immediate vicinity, specimens showing 

 any remarkable points of its anatomy, and any useful pro- 

 ducts that are derived from it, should be exhibited. 



Each group of this kind would be a study of itself, and 

 should therefore be kept quite distinct and apart from 

 every other group. It should be so placed that it could 

 be seen from several points of view, and every part of 

 each individual composing it closely examined. To 

 encourage such examination and study, seats should be 

 placed conveniently near it a point strangely overlooked 

 in most museums, where it seems to be taken for granted 

 that visitors will pass on without any desire to linger, or 

 any wish for a more close examination. It would add 

 still further to the interest of these typical groups, if it 

 were clearly shown how much they represented, by giving 

 a list of all the well-known species of the genus or family, 

 with their native country 'and proportionate size, and in- 

 dicating, by means of a coloured line, which of them were 

 exhibited in the museum. This would be an excellent 

 and most intelligible guide to the collection itself, and 

 would enable the visitor to judge how far it gave any 

 adequate notion of the variety and exuberance of nature. 



It would also, I think, be advisable, that as far as 

 possible each well-marked and important group of any 

 considerable extent should occupy one room or 

 compartment only, where it would be separated from all 

 others, where the attention could be concentrated upon 

 it, and where the extent to which it was illustrated could 

 be seen at a glance. This has not, I believe, been yet 

 attempted in any museum ; and when I come to speak of 

 the building arrangements, I will explain how it can be 

 easily managed. In this room, a department would also 

 be devoted to the comparative anatomy of all the more 

 important species and groups exhibited ; and a large map 

 should be suspended, showing in some detail their 

 geographical distribution. Here, too, we should place 

 specimens or casts of the fossil remains of the family, 

 with restorations of some of the more important species ; 



