Notes and Comments. 291 



being- very many miles distant from llie society's home. All 

 this is apparently the work of the president, who is also editor, 

 leader, botanical referee, lecturer in g-eneral, etc. In the whole 

 of this usually well-written matter, little, if anything-, can be 

 found adding- to our knowledge of the fauna or flora of the 

 proper area for the society's work, and we doubt if even its own 

 niembers read it all. Two articles are illustrated, one being- 

 an account of a ' unique collection of cactaceous plants,' with 

 block froni the ' Gardeners' Chronicle ' ; the other being a 

 description of an excursion to Windermere, illustrated by blocks 

 lent by the proprietor of the hotel at which the party stayed. 

 On one of these the hotel is conspicuously indicated. The 

 remainder of the report is taken up by lists of members, rules, 

 balance sheet, advertisements for ladies' hats, furniture, and 

 other similarly useful information. The price of the volume is 

 not stated, but no doubt it could be purchased. Opinions on 

 the nature of publications may vary, but, personally, we would 

 have preferred seeing a sing-le note recording- the occurrence of 

 some unusual animal or plant in the society's area, written by 

 either of its 190 members, rather than the contents of this 

 56 pp. pamphlet. From a society having an annual income of 

 over;^i2o we should have expected something more substantial. 

 Under the head of ' expenditure ' are some items which, perhaps, 

 account for the present state of affairs. The greatest amount is 

 for ' Fees and honorarium,' for one individual, and another is 

 for ' 196 teas at Art Gallery Soiree.' 



DR. BATHER AND MUSEUMS. 

 At the fourteenth annual meeting and conference of the 

 Museums' Association, held at Aberdeen in July, the President, 

 Dr. F. A. Bather, delivered an address on ' The Functions of 

 a Museum.' He pointed out that at the present day visitors to 

 museums fell naturally into three classes : — (1) Investigators ; 

 (2) students of school or college standing-, with whom were 

 joined amateurs and collectors ; and (3) the lay public. 

 Experience suggested that the collections in a large museum 

 should be arranged in three divisions: (i) a stored series, 

 accessible only to investigators ; (2) an exhibited series, 

 intended for the instruction of students and for the assistance 

 of amateurs, freely open to such really interested people, but 

 denied to the public, and (3) a smaller series of carefullv selected 

 objects so displayed as to niake the utmost appeal to the 

 general public. 



190J AugiiM I. 



