i8 MUSEUM ORGANISATION i 



fact is that taxidermy is an art resembling that of the painter, 

 or rather the sculptor ; it requires natural genius as well as 

 great cultivation, and it can never be permanently improved 

 until we have abandoned the present conventional low standard 

 and low payment for " bird-stuffing," which is utterly inadequate 

 to induce any man of capacity to devote himself to it as a 

 profession. 



To return from this digression, every specimen exhibited 

 should have its definite purpose, and no absolute duplicate 

 should on any account be permitted. Above all, the purpose 

 for which each specimen is exhibited, and the main lesson to 

 be derived from it, must be distinctly indicated by the labels 

 affixed, both as headings of the various divisions of the series, 

 and to the individual specimens. A well-arranged educational 

 museum has been denned as a collection of instructive labels 

 illustrated by well-selected specimens. 



What is, or should be, the order of events in arranging a 

 portion of a public museum ? Not, certainly, as too often 

 happens now, bringing a number of specimens together almost 

 by haphazard, and cramming them as closely as possible in a 

 case far too small to hold them, and with little reference to 

 their order or to the possibility of their being distinctly seen. 

 First, as I said before, you must have your curator. He must 

 carefully consider the object of the museum, the class and 

 capacities of the persons for whose instruction it is founded, 

 and the space available to carry out this object. He will then 

 divide the subject to be illustrated into groups, and consider 

 their relative proportions, according to which he will plan 

 out the space. Large labels will next be prepared for the 

 principal headings, as the chapters of a book, and smaller 

 ones for the various subdivisions. Certain propositions to be 

 illustrated, either in the structure, classification, geographical 

 distribution, geological position, habits, or evolution of the 

 subjects dealt with, will be laid down and reduced to definite 

 and concise language. Lastly will come the illustrative 

 specimens, each of which as procured and prepared will fall 

 into its appropriate place. As it is not always easy to obtain 

 these at the time that they are wanted, gaps will often have 

 to be left, but these, if properly utilised by drawings or labels, 



