THE AUSTRALIA>J MUSEUM L 



MAGAZINE —-^^ 



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Puhlislied by the Australian Museum 

 Editor: C. Anderson, M.A., D.Sc. 



- College Street, Sydney. 

 Annual Subscription, Post Free, 4/4. 



VOL. T. No. 6. 



OC'IOP.EIJ. 10212 



Editorial. 



MUSEUiMS ANCIENT AND MODERN. 



The first institution which bore the 

 na ae museum, or temple of tlie Muses, 

 was that founded by Ptolemy Soter at 

 Alexandria about 30(i B.t'. But this was 

 not a museum as we to-day understand, 

 it was rather an abode of learning. 



Although King Solomon and the Ro- 

 man Emperor Augustus formed collec- 

 tions of curious objects gathered from 

 distant parts, there is no proof of tlie 

 existence of any permanent or public 

 record of natural objects among the an- 

 cients, but it is said that Aristotle, 

 through the generosity of Philip and 

 Alexander, was supplied with materials 

 for his researches. Perhaps the nearest 

 a])i»roach to the museum as we know it 

 were the .skins of gorillas collected by 

 Hanno from the W. Coast of Africa and 

 placed in the temple at Carthage. 



The revival of learning irt the Middle 

 Ages brought into being the collecting 

 instinct, which had for so long remained 

 latent, and museums which contained 

 ])ra('tically everything pertaining to the 

 aits and sciences, a veritable multuni in 

 [)arvo, were the vogue. Most of these 

 were formed by i)rivate individuals for 

 thi'ir personal enjoyment, and were rare- 

 ly associated with any systematic teach- 

 ing or pul)lic l)enefit. In tliese early 

 mu •cuius the contents were apt to be 

 lather curiosities than objects Avith real 



scientific interest. Thus we find sucli 

 curious entries in the catalogues as uni- 

 corn's horns, giants' bones, human 

 skulls "that had never been buried'' and 

 were supposed to have marvellous medi- 

 cal properties, petrified toad-stools, Vicar 

 of Bray's clogs, and other strange ob- 

 jects, which, however, were exhibited in 

 accordance with the opinions of the 

 times. Of "Mr. Salter's Collection of 

 Curiosities" it was said in halting verse, 



"Monsters of all sorts here are seen. 

 Strange things in nature as they grow 



so, 

 Some relics of the Sheba queen. 

 And fragments ol the famous Bob 



Ci'usoe.'' 



The first scientific museum actually 

 founded was the Ashmolean Museum, 

 formed in 1667, chiefly as the result of 

 the labours of the TVadescants, father 

 and son, in Virginia and northern 

 Africa. This museum still exists at Ox- 

 ford. Later, in 1753, the British Museum, 

 the mother of modern museums, was es- 

 ta1)lished. Sir Hans Sloane, who was one 

 of the early scientific explorers of Ame- 

 rica, bequeathing to the nation his col- 

 lections. It is interesting to observe that 

 both institutions were foianded princi- 

 pally on material from the then Ameri- 

 can colonic:".. 



