14 BEPOKT — 1889. 



institution would be out of all proportion to its utility ; the specimens 

 themselves would be quite inaccessible to tlie examination of all those 

 capable of deriving iustruction from them, and, owing to the injurious 

 effects of continued exposure to light upon the greater number of pre- 

 served natural objects, would ultimately lose a large part of their per- 

 manent value. Collections of this kind must, in fact, be treated as the 

 books in a library, and be used only for consultation and reference by 

 those who are able to read and appreciate their contents. To demand, as 

 has been ignorantly done, that all the specimens belonging to onr national 

 museums, for instance, should be displayed in cases in the public galleries, 

 would be equivalent to asking that every book in a library, instead of 

 being shut up and arranged on shelves for consultation when required, 

 should have every single page framed and glazed and hung on the walls, 

 so that the humblest visitor as he passes along the galleries has only to 

 open his eyes and revel in the wealth of literature of all ages and all 

 countries, without so much as applying to a custodian to open a case. 

 Such an arrangement is perfectly conceivable. The idea from some 

 points of view is magnificent, almost sublime. But imagine the space 

 required for such an arrangement of the national library of books, or, 

 indeed, of any of the smallest local libraries ; imagine the inconvenience 

 to the real student, the disadvantages which he would be under in read- 

 ing the pages of any work fixed in an immovable position beneath a glass 

 case ; think of the enormous distances he would often have to traverse to 

 compare a reference or verify a quotation, and the idea of sublimity soon 

 gives place to its usual antithesis. The attempt to display every bird, 

 every insect, shell, or plant which is or ought to be in any of our great 

 museums of reference would produce an exactly similar result. 



In the arrangement of collections designed for research, which, of 

 course, will contain all those precious specimens called ' types,' which 

 must be appealed to through all time to determine the species to which a 

 name was originally given, the principal points to be aimed at are — the 

 preservation of the objects from all influences deleterious to them, espe- 

 cially dust, light, and damp ; their absolutely correct identification, and 

 record of every circumstance that need be known of their history ; their 

 classification and storage in such a manner that each one can be found 

 without difficulty or loss of time ; and, both on account of expense as well 

 as convenience of access, they should be made to occupy as small a space 

 as is compatible with these requirements. They should be kept in rooms 

 provided with suitable tables and good light for their examination, and 

 within reach of the necessary books of reference on the particular sub- 

 jects which the specimens illustrate. Furthermore, the rooms should be 

 so situated that the officers of the museum, without too great hindrance 

 to their own work, can be at hand for occasional assistance and super- 

 vision of the student, and if collections of research and exhibited specimens 

 are contained in one building, it is obvious that the closer the contiguity 



