IP Free ee eS np 
RiP Loe epee ee 
ee es ee 
/ 
. 
$ 
: 
4 
4 
1905] ON THE FORMATION OF LOCAL COLLECTIONS. 149 
dicates an interest in these subjects which it is hoped will be per- 
manent and lead to the establishment of local museums in every 
centre of population in the country, the smaller as well as the 
greater. In many cases the local museum must cover both na- 
tural and civil history,—minerals, plants, animals, pre-historic 
remains and historical relics. The grouping in one museum of 
these widely different objects seems at first to be inappropriate, 
but it is perfectly proper and quite possible to carry out. 
In forming a local museum, it should be decided at the out- 
set exactly what is to be done,—what ground is to be covered,— 
and when decided, every temptation to go beyond these limits 
should be firmly resisted. Local and general collections should 
never be mixed and the objects in each department should be ar- 
ranged in different cases or otherwise distinctly separated. 
But specimens are nearly always given before the cases to hold 
them are obtained, in fact, it is usually the gift of a collection, or 
the offer of one, which suggests the museum and even the forma- 
tion of the society itself. The president of a well known county 
society was in the habit of saying that every person who gives a 
book to a library ought to give a dollar with it to shelve it and 
keep it in order, a rule which may be applied with equal propriety 
to the museum specimen as to the book, but a rule impossible 
to carry out.in either case, for the donor usually thinks that he 
has done enough in giving the object and would feel insulted at 
‘at the suggestion of a contribution of money to provide for its 
keeping. 
Museum cases are much more expensive than is generally 
supposed and temporary ones may be hired or borrowed which 
will answer the purpose until funds can be raised to obtain per- 
manent cases. Rather than expose delicate objects to dust and 
injury upon open shelves it is far better to pack them away in 
drawers and boxes until suitable glass cases can be provided. It 
is imperative that the cases should have more glass than wood in 
their construction. A collection comes to mind, housed in heavy, 
over ornamented, black walnut cases, which were given to an 
institution by a generous friend,—his own selection. They were 
so dark and exposed so little surface of glass that the specimens 
