iv SCHOOL MUSEUMS 61 



and occasional visitors, reckoned in the books as British, which 

 are the most expensive and difficult to procure, are the least 

 important for such a collection. Variations in plumage in 

 young and old, and at different seasons, should be shown in 

 some common species. Every specimen must be good and well 

 mounted, or it is not worth placing in the museum. 



(4) The principal British mammals of smaller size, especially 

 the bats, shrews, and mice. 



(5) The British reptiles, Amphibia, and commoner fishes, 

 so shown that their distinctive characters may be recognised. 



(6) A collection, as complete as may be, of British plants, 

 or at all events of the plants of the neighbourhood. By far 

 the best way of preserving and exhibiting such a collection is 

 in glazed frames, movably hinged upon an upright stand, as 

 may be seen in the Botanical Gallery of the Natural History 

 Museum. A collection arranged in this manner should find a 

 place in every school museum of natural history. 



(7) A collection of the fossils found in the quarries of the 

 neighbourhood, should there be any. 



Every collection or series should be kept perfectly distinct 

 from and independent of the others, and its nature and object 

 clearly indicated by a conspicuous label. 



The exhibited specimens should be arranged in upright 

 wall-cases or in table-cases on the floor of the room. For the 

 latter a high slope is preferable, and in all the exhibition space 

 should not extend too high or too low for comfortable inspection. 

 Between three to six or seven feet from the floor should be 

 the limits for the exhibition of small objects. The three feet 

 nearest the floor may be enclosed with wooden doors forming 

 cupboards or fitted with drawers. Glass in this situation is 

 liable to be broken by the feet or knees. 



The museum should have a permanent curator a man of 

 general scientific attainments, and who is specially acquainted 

 with, and devoted to, museum work, and who might also be 

 one of the teachers, if too much of his time is not so occupied. 

 But, as he is not likely to have special knowledge of more 

 than one branch of natural history, the teachers of the other 

 branches represented in the museum would probably each give 

 advice and assistance with regard to his own department. It is 



