i RESEARCH AND INSTRUCTION 15 



I believe that the main cause of what may be fairly 

 termed the failure of the majority of museums especially 

 museums of natural history to perform the functions that 

 might be legitimately expected of them is that they nearly 

 always confound together the two distinct objects which they 

 may fulfil, and by attempting to combine both in the same 

 exhibition practically accomplish neither. 



In accordance with which of those two objects, which may 

 be briefly called research and instruction, is the main end of 

 the museum, so should the whole be primarily arranged ; and 

 in accordance with the object for which each specimen is 

 required, so should it be treated. 



The specimens kept for research, for advancement of 

 knowledge, for careful investigations in structure and develop- 

 ment, or for showing the minute distinctions which must be 

 studied in working out the problems connected with variations 

 of species according to age, sex, season, or locality ; for fixing 

 the limits of geographical distribution, or determining the 

 range in geological time, must be not only exceedingly numerous 

 (so numerous, indeed, that it is almost impossible to put a 

 limit on what may be required for such purposes), but they 

 must also be kept under such conditions as to admit of ready 

 and close examination and comparison. 



If the whole of the specimens really required for enlarging 

 the boundaries of zoological or botanical science were to be 

 displayed in such a manner that each one could be distinctly 

 seen by any visitor sauntering through the public galleries of 

 a museum, the vastness and expense of the institution would 

 be out of all proportion to its utility; the specimens them- 

 selves would be quite inaccessible to the examination of all 

 those capable of deriving instruction from them, and, owing to 

 the injurious effects of continued exposure to light upon the 

 greater number of preserved natural objects, would ultimately 

 lose a large part of their permanent value. Collections of this 

 kind must, in fact, be treated as the books in a library, and be 

 used only for consultation and reference by those who are 

 able to read and appreciate their contents. To demand, as 

 has been ignorantly done, that all the specimens belonging to 

 our national museums, for instance, should be displayed in 



