264 Report of a Journey Around the JJ^or/d. 



coatiiu much that science needs, but in general private collectors 

 do not publish much : often they do not keep in touch with those 

 who are pursuing the same ends in connection with public museums; 

 still less do these workers in a museum know all the good things 

 hidden in private houses. It would be good for many branches 

 of science if this condition of things could be changed, but especi- 

 ally so for ethnography. How best to do this is for each museum 

 to decide : in our own case, in journeying through our island group 

 every member of the staff is watching for private collections, not 

 necessarily to add to the museum stores, but in trained search for 

 something nezc. When found it is sometimes not to be obtained 

 "in fee simple", but it is so rare to be refused the loan of an object 

 for photograph or cast, that I cannot recall an instance. We have 

 many hundred specimens on loan that either cannot be sold, owing 

 to some legal obstacle (as in settling an estate) or because the 

 article may be in the nature of an heirloom and the owner is loath 

 to part irrevocably with it. In this connection attention may be 

 called to the advantage of having specimens stored in a fireproof 

 building where they will be taken care of. 



When we go to other parts of the Pacific the same interest 

 holds. Indeed, ever}^ where I meet friends who know my profession, 

 and who happen to know some one who has a private collecflion of 

 specimens in my line, to whom they introduce me, and an inspec- 

 tion of this new collection seldom fails to result in happy aiscoveries. 

 Now if one of my staff is studying some specialty', I am able to tell 

 him not merely what public museum is best supplied with his needed 

 material, but where in private colle(5lions he should look for help. 

 Will not his theme be better worked out for this? 



If museums generally would interest themselves with the pri- 

 vate colle(ftions in their vicinity, and if these private collectors 

 would notif}' curators when they have things not shown in the 

 museum cases, it would require little labor to formulate a system 

 of notes by which the k)io'cvledge of the extraneous specimen could 

 be incorporated into the museum, if not a cast or photograph. 



The day has been when I have looked askance on casts in 

 ethnological museums, but with the artistic coloration now possible 



mv attitude has changed. I know that Mr. J. W. Thompson, the 



[412J 



