NATURE 
61 
THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1870 
THE NEW NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM 
\ Via the last few days two members of Her 
Majesty’s Government, the Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer and the Premier himself, have declared, in their 
places in Parliament, that it is the wish and intention of 
the Ministry to carry into effect, without further delay, the 
long-talked-of project of erecting a special building to 
contain the Natural History Collections of the British 
Museum. 
That this announcement will be received with great 
satisfaction by the large body of persons interested in the 
various branches of natural history in this country there 
can be no doubt, although there may be misgivings in 
some quarters lest the fullest advantage should not be 
taken of so grand an opportunity of making the very best 
museum of the kind in the world. These misgivings are 
in a great measure justified by the present condition of 
not only our own, but nearly all other European Zoologi- 
cal Museums, and more especially by the plans that 
have at various times been put forth in a semi-official 
manner, as representing the ideal of what such a museum 
should be. 
Long and extensive experience has, or ought to have, 
taught us the best principle of construction as applied to 
libraries and picture galleries ; but the natural history 
sciences are in their infancy as compared with literature 
and art, and the best methods by which their treasures can 
be housed and exhibited have yet to be learned. The way 
in which this is done in the new Museum will exercise so 
great an influence upon the progress of these sciences, that 
it should not be determined upon without full consideration 
by those who are most conversant with their present state, 
and with the probable wants of a future generation of 
students. 
Let the reader imagine what a public library would be 
if the books, instead of being shut up and arranged on 
the shelves for consultation when required, had every 
single page framed and glazed and hung on the wall, so 
that the humblest visitor as he passes along the galleries 
has only to open his eyes and revel in the wealth of litera- 
ture of all ages and all countries, without so much as 
applying to a custodian or opening a case. There is 
something truly heroic in the conception of such a scheme ; 
but laying aside all questions of space and cost, what 
would be its real utility to those who are able to appre- 
ciate and make true use of its conterits! All the in- 
conveniences, all the impossibilities, I may say, of a 
library arranged upon such.a plan would be found in a 
museum containing anything like an adequate number 
of objects for the purposes of really enlarging the boun- 
daries of scientific zoology, in which every specimen 
contained in it were exposed to the gaze of all who choose 
to enter its walls, 
We are only beginning to form any idea of the enormous 
numbers of specimens actually required to enable us to 
rest our generalisations relating to most zoological prob- 
lems upon a firm basis, and of the importance of keeping 
these specimens in such acondition, and so placed, that 
they can be examined and compared with the greatest 
facility. Provision should, therefore, be made in the new 
VOL. II. 
Museum for the great bulk of the collection being thus 
treated. It would be quite a mistake to suppose that they 
would then be shut up and put away, and that the public 
have no further concern in them, and ought not to be ex- 
pected to pay for their accommodation. They would be 
in exactly the same circumstances as the books in a well- 
arranged library, and ought to be equally accessible under 
suitable regulations; and there are thousands of people 
who will read with interest the conclusions that scientific 
men will draw from their study of them, who would never 
care to see, or if they did, never learn anything from, the 
specimens themselves. 
At the same time, the other essential function of a 
Natural History Museum, the diffusion of knowledge 
among the general public, should be carefully provided for, 
and means should be taken by which these two objects 
may be carried on simultaneously, and, at all times, without 
interfering with each other, instead of continuing the 
present excessively inconvenient system of alternate 
closed and opendays. This, and many other advantages, 
upon which I need not dwell at present, can be readily 
secured by the admirable plan, first suggested, I believe, 
by Mr. Sclater, of having all the glass-cases hermetically 
closed on the side towards the public galleries, and 
opening behind into the working-rooms in which the un- 
exhibited portions of the same series are arranged in 
drawers or cabinets. In this way, any exhibited specimen, 
if required for examination or comparison, could be 
readily removed and replaced, without inconvenience to 
the visitors, and without letting in the dust which neces- 
sarily fills the air of the crowded public galleries. One 
of the principal objections to lighting the Museum with 
gas in the evening would also be obviated if this were 
carried out. 
Another important requirement in the arrangement of 
a new Museum of Natural History is the abolition of the 
special department of palzontology. There might be 
a comparatively small geological series, consisting of 
characteristic fossils arranged stratigraphically, but the 
great bulk of extinct animals should be incorporated with 
the zoological series, so that they may be studied side by 
side with their existing representatives, not only by the 
sight-seeing public and specially-instructed visitors, but 
also by those who have charge of the collections. If the 
construction of the new museum tends to perpetuate the 
present artificial distinction between extinct and recent 
species of animals, it will hinder instead of promoting the 
progress of any general conception of the organic world as 
a whole, and will also impose unnecessary difficulties in 
working out the minute comparisons by which the affini- 
ties and gradations between the various units of which 
that world is composed are recognised. 
It would probably be premature at the present time to 
enter into any further discussion of details, since the sub- 
ject has so often seemed nearly as far advanced as now, 
and has asoftenreceded again into the far-off distance. But 
after the declaration of last Friday evening it should be 
in a fairerway of being realised than ever before it, and it 
behoves the working naturalists of the country to lend their 
aid in furthering the excellent intentions of the Govern- 
ment by making known their well-considered opinions 
upon this most important question. 
W. H. FLOWER 
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