VII 



THE MUSEUM OF THE EOYAL COLLEGE OF 

 SUBGEONS OF ENGLAND 1 



WHILE thinking over various subjects for an address with 

 which to open the business of the Section over which I have 

 the honour to preside, it has occurred to me that the time 

 which has been allotted by the arrangements of the Congress for 

 the purpose may be made most useful to my hearers if, instead 

 of entering upon a discussion of any abstract question, I were 

 to ask your attention to a subject upon which I may possibly 

 be able to give a little information of practical use to members 

 of the Congress during their visit to this city. 



No class of persons can appreciate so fully the importance 

 and value of museums as those whose occupation it is to study 

 the form and relations of the various parts of the body, 

 whether of plants, animals, or man. 



Our science would make little progress if the objects of 

 our inquiries, once used for examination or description, were 

 then thrown aside, and those coming after were denied 

 the opportunity of which we have availed ourselves. A 

 museum is a register, in a permanent form, of facts, suit- 

 able for examination, verification, and comparison one with 

 another. 



Hence, ever since serious attention has been awakened to 

 the interest of anatomical studies, museums have always been 

 important adjuncts to their successful prosecution, and the 

 preservation of the various structures of the body has occupied 

 the attention of very many anatomists, since the time of the 



1 Presidential Address to the Anatomical Section of the International 

 Medical Congress. London, 4th August 1881. 



