THE USES OF MUSEUM COLLECTIONS 155 



up " in such a way that it is preserved permanently, or for as long a 

 time as possible, so that the labour expended upon it is not quickly 

 lost. 



The next purpose of a school museum to be considered is that of 

 illustrating the local natural history ; first of all, with a view to 

 showing what animals and plants or fossil remains of them may be 

 found in the neighbourhood, and, secondly, in order to afford an easy 

 means of recognising the creatures that from time to time will be 

 discovered. Unless the museum is made a special feature of the 

 school work, and plenty of room is available, it may not be possible 

 to develop this last side of it to any great extent ; and what often 

 happens is that one or two branches of natural history alone are 

 pursued in which particular members of the staff or pupils are 

 specially interested. 



If there is, as there ought to be, a good local museum near at 

 hand, it will obviate the necessity for extensive collections of the 

 kind last mentioned. 



We must not leave this subject without discussing a third side of 

 the school museum which proves useful at a later stage when nature- 

 study becomes combined with the consideration of the structure and 

 relationship of the various creatures concerned, and grows into the 

 pursuit of natural history in a wide sense. An endeavour should 

 be made to indicate, by means of small carefully-chosen series of 

 specimens and preparations, the main groups and classes of animals 

 and plants, so that the position of any particular thing in the world 

 of life can be at once found. The extent of such an " index collec- 

 tion " must depend upon circumstances, and although one may exist 

 in the local museum, this should not prevent something of the kind 

 from being arranged in the school even if there is no further accom- 

 modation for it than the walls of the class rooms. 



