April 13, 1905] 



NA TURE 



555 



that in the bibIioj,'raphical and " museographical " 

 lists forming the subject of the second and third 

 volumes, reference is made only to museums of which 

 there are printed catalogues or descriptions, or to 

 which reference is made in other works. Conse- 

 quently, many museums, including a few of some 

 importance, are not referred to at all. In the case 

 of l.irgc institutions liUe the British Museum, only 

 suih publications as refer directly to the building and 

 its contents are quoted, so that the strictly scientific 

 " catalogues " find no place in Dr. Murray's lists. 

 That these lists, which must have involved an 

 immense amount of labour in their preparation, will 

 prove of great interest to " museographisls " in the 

 future can scarcely be doubted. We are unable, how- 

 ever, to find any reference to Dr. A. B. Meyer's well 

 known survey of European and American museums. 



In his first chapter the author discusses what we 

 may call rudiments of museums, directing special at- 

 tention to curiosities and rarities preserved in churches 

 and cathedrals. Among these we miss a reference to 

 ihf horn of the aurochs, or extinct wild ox, preserved 

 ill the cathedral at .Strassburg up to the time of the 

 French revolution. " Some Old Exhibits " forms the 

 title of the sixth chapter, in which reference is made 

 to our ancestors' extraordinary belief in the medicinal 

 v.ilue of mummy, " unicorn's horn," and such like. 

 In discussing the so-called giants' bones, the author 

 makes a strange mistake (pp. 46 and 47) in regard 

 (o (he bones which were assigned early in the seven- 

 teenth century to Teutobochus Rex, stating that they 

 turned out to be those of a giant salamander, whereas 

 they were really those of a mammoth. Dr. Murray has 

 evidently confused these remains with Scheuchzer's 

 Homo diluvii testis, based on the fossil salamander of 

 the GDningcn Pliocene. 



Here we may lake the opportunity of alluding to 

 <(:rtain other errors in connection with zoological 

 matters. On p. 58, for instance, we find the name 

 (if the red deer given as Cervus elephas, which might 

 well be attributed to the " printer's devil " were it 

 not that a few lines later the author deliberately states 

 ili.-it this anini;il was the fXtf/jat of the Greeks! 

 .\gaiii, in discussing the barnacle-goose myth, lh(' 

 .luthor makes the following statement (p. 76) : — 



" .Sir Robert .Sibbald, about the same time, e.\- 

 .imined the whole subject personally, and showed that 

 the Barnacle goose (Bernida leiicopsis) was a bird 

 produced from an egg, and that the Barnacle shell 

 (Concha anatijcra) instead of biing thai egg was a 

 pholas; the Scots piddocks." 



If Sibbald made this misidenlific.ilion, the misl.ike 

 should have been pointed out — we scarcely dare think 

 the author believes it to be true. As a minor error, 

 il may be pointed out that the skeletons referred to 

 i>n p. 187 as those of the mammoth are really refer- 

 :ible to the mastodon. Finally, the statement on 

 p. 136 that the .Sloane herbarium " has recently been 

 ir.-insferred from Montague House to the Natural 

 History Museum " is scarcely exact or up to date. 



Reverting to our survey of the contents of the first 

 volume, we find in chapter vil. an account of some 

 of the earliest museums, while in the eighth ch.-ipter 

 NO. 1850, VOL. 71] 



those ill existence at or about the date of the found- 

 ation of the Royal Society (1660) are discussed in 

 considerable detail. A whole chapter is devoted to 

 the history of the collections which formed the basis 

 of the British Museum, and the gradual development 

 of that institution. Museums for the exhibition of 

 special subjects and the museums of Scotland next 

 claim attention. From these the author passes on to 

 museums which were " run " for profit, such as the 

 well known museums of Lever and Bullock in 

 London. Incidentally, it is mentioned how the fdrmer 

 of these was disposed of en bloc by means of a 

 guinea lottery; and from this there is an easy tran- 

 sition to the breaking-up of museums, with, in certain 

 cases, the total loss of some of the most valuable of 

 their contents. 



In the fifteenth chapter Dr. Murray describes the 

 arrangement- or rather want of arrangement — 

 of the old style of museum, and takes occasion to 

 express regret that a sample of one of these has noi 

 been preserved to our own day, as an illustration of 

 museum evolution. 'ITience we pass on to modern 

 museum arrangement, local museums, and the use 

 of museums in general. In connection with museum, 

 buildings, it is interesting to note that Ilaltman, a 

 pupil of Linnaeus, advocated the importance of having 

 a north light to the main galleries — advice which has- 

 been strangely neglected in the planning of many of 

 our modern institutions. Of the importance of local 

 museums, if run on right lines, and not made into 

 mere curiosity shops, the author is fully convinced ; 

 but he is also equally convinced that they should not 

 be left to the administration of local bodies, the 

 members of which, as a rule, have but littU: concep- 

 tion of their true needs and purpose. 



With regard to public museums in general, and 

 especially those of the metropolis and our larger 

 cities, Dr. Murray insists that modern methods of 

 conservation and exhibition, and especially the labour 

 of writing descriptive labels (which have to be from, 

 time to time renewed to keep pace with scientific 

 progress), must entail constantly increasing exjiendi- 

 ture, both in respect to the staff and to the upkeej) 

 of the whole establishment. In one passage (p. 280)1 

 he incidentally mentions that specimens shown in 

 a museum do not grow out of date, apparently 

 oblivious of the terrible effects of light in destroying 

 so many zoological exhibits. His arguments for the 

 increase of expenditure in the upkeep of museums 

 are therefore, to a certain extent, understated rather 

 than overestimated. 



In regard to the general awakening of the country 

 to the necessity of adequate training in every branch 

 of culture and every department of industry. Dr. 

 Murray writes as follows :— 



" One of the most potent engines by which this 

 is to be secured is the museum. Some of our 

 museums are among the finest in the world ; many 

 are lending valuable assistance to the advancement 

 and appreciation of art and science. A large number, 

 however, are still content to be more holiday resorts. 

 All, even the best, must advance, and for this end 

 enlightened and sympathetic administration and a 

 liberal income are required. Hie museum of 1897 is. 



