ii NATIONAL MUSEUMS 41 



in the literature I have referred to, but in a more practical 

 manner in many museums in various parts of the world. 



Without pursuing this question further at the present 

 time, I should like to repeat, from a previous address on the 

 same subject, 1 certain propositions which are fundamental 

 in the arrangement of collections of the class of which I am 

 now speaking. 



The number of the specimens must be strictly limited, 

 according to the nature of the subject to be illustrated and 

 the space available. None must be placed either too high 

 or too low for ready examination. There must be no 

 crowding of specimens one behind the other, every one 

 being perfectly and distinctly seen, and with a clear space 

 around it. If an object is worth putting into a gallery at 

 all, it is worth such a position as will enable it to be seen. 

 Every specimen exhibited should be good of its kind, and 

 all available skill and care should be spent upon its preserva- 

 tion, and rendering it capable of teaching the lesson it is 

 intended to convey. Every specimen should have its definite 

 purpose, and no absolute duplicate should on any account be 

 admitted. 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. 



These are the principles of what may be called the New 

 Museum idea as applied to national museums of natural 

 history. It is a remarkable coincidence that since they were 

 first enunciated, and during the time of their discussion, but 

 before they had met with anything like universal accept- 

 ance, the four first nations of Europe almost simultaneously 

 erected in their respective capitals London, Paris, Vienna, 

 and Berlin entirely new buildings, on a costly, even palatial 

 scale, to receive the natural history collections, which in each 

 case had quite outgrown their previous insufficient accom- 

 modation. In the construction of neither of these four 

 edifices can the guardians of the public purse be accused of 



1 Presidential Address to the British Association for the Advancement of 

 Science. Report of Newcastle-on-Tyne Meeting, 1889. 



