CHAPTER V. 
THE LABORATORY. 
Every museum should have connected with it a laboratory 
for practical work. ‘This is especially desirable in connection 
with College Museums, as there is but one way in which Zo- 
ology should be taught : directly from the specimens. There 
are in the United States some 370 institutions which rejoice 
in the name of college or university, but not ten per cent. 
afford their students the slightest facilities for practical work. 
It is sincerely to be hoped that the day is not far distant, 
when this condition of affairs will be changed and specimens 
will replace the text-book instruction. 
The laboratory should be a commodious, well-lighted room, 
with, if possible, a northern exposure, and furnished with 
every convenience for the student. ‘Tables for the students 
should not be varnished, as in that case any accidental spilling 
of alcohol will render them sticky.and unpleasant. Instead, 
the tables may be oiled and thus they will not be stained and 
may be readily washed. Either pine or cherry is a good wood 
for tables. A convenient size for tables for single students 
is four feet by three, and two and one-half feet in height. 
Should it be necessary to place more than one student at a 
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