52 MODERN MUSEUMS 



adjunct to any collection intended for popular instruction, 

 even if no strictly systematic teaching should be part of its 

 programme. 



I may point out, lastly, as a great advantage of this plan, 

 that it can be, if space is reserved or obtainable, indefinitely 

 extended on both sides on exactly the same system without 

 in any way interfering with the existing arrangements ; a 

 new section, containing exhibition and reserve galleries and 

 studies, can be added as required at either end, either for the 

 reception of new departments, or for the expansion of the old 

 ones. With a view to the latter it is most important that 

 the fittings should be as little as possible of the nature of 

 fixtures, but should all be so constructed as to be readily 

 removable and interchangeable. This is a point I would 

 strongly impress upon all who are concerned in fitting up 

 museums, either large or small. 



The modifications of this plan, to adapt it to the require- 

 ments of a municipal, school, or even village museum, will 

 consist mainly in altering the relative proportion of the two 

 sections of the collection. The majority of museums in country 

 localities require little, if anything, beyond the exhibition 

 series. In this the primary arrangement to be aimed at is, 

 first, absolutely to separate the archaeological, historical, and 

 art portions of the collection from the natural history, if, as 

 will generally be the case, both are to be represented in the 

 museum. If possible they should be in distinct rooms. The 

 second point is to divide each branch into two sections : (1) 

 a strictly limited general or type collection, arranged upon a 

 purely educational plan ; (2) a local collection, consisting only 

 of objects found within a certain well-defined radius around 

 the museum, which should be as exhaustive as possible. 

 Nothing else should be attempted, and therefore reserve 

 collections are unnecessary. Even the insects and dried 

 plants can be exhibited on some such plans as those adopted 

 for the Walsingham collection of Lepidoptera in the Zoological 

 Department, or the collection of British plants in the Botanical 

 Department of our Natural History Museum. 



I have elsewhere indicated my views as to the objects 

 most suitable for, and the best arrangement of them in, school 



