THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 21 



natural colour, and the name or initial letter written upon eacfc 

 principal organ. It would be as delightful as if the botanist could 

 go out into the fields and find his plants already named, so that he 

 could devote his time and attention to their real study. And i£ 

 accompanied by drawings possibly enlarged, or photos, such as these 

 now before you, (frog, cat, snail,) so much the better. To note only 

 one possible further use for museums, where the object is not so 

 mucli to represent parts as the whole, they might be used in the 

 case of birds, at least, for stuffed specimens, since the plumage i-s nofc 

 materially affected in the preparation. There is a constant outcry afe 

 home agamst the miserable specimens of stuffing, and no less art 

 authority than Professor Flower, Director of tlie Natural History 

 Department of the British Museum, has told us of the cases of 

 museums filled "with wretched and repulsive caricatures of 

 mammals and birds, out of all natural proportion, shrunken here and 

 bloated there, and in impossible attitudes." Where good specimen,*?, 

 independent of cost is the object, I would imagine that a bird 

 preserved in this way, with the flaps sewed up, would at least 

 preserve the natural proportions, since the natural contents are 

 there. On the whole, I can safely say that with such specimens 

 judiciously named and coloured in our museums, this department 

 would be a source of attraction, and frequented rather than shunned 

 as it too often is at present. 



Second, for teaching purposes there can be no doubt of the value 

 of these preparations. Holding, as I do, that it is unnatural to 

 teach natural history wirhout reference to specimens, nothing could 

 bs more effective than the coloured dry preparations for demonstrating' 

 to a class, (I speak from experience.) They may be handled and 

 carefully examined by the pupil, and I think it will be granted tliafe 

 no mode] nor drawing can teach the grand outline of animal 

 structure and the relation of parts better than the object itself. Oi: 

 course, one may have the fresh animal, but fresh specimens are not 

 always at hand when wanted, and here they are preserved once for 

 all, with tlie parts standing out in clear contrast where colour is 

 employed. I need not enlarge under this head, but would notice 

 . specially how useful these preparations might be made in the 

 teaching of physiology. The sheep's head, heart, lungs brain, eye, 

 &c., can all be beautifully preserved and used to illustrate practically 

 the teaching of human physiology. 



1 here is a third purpose for which these preparations might be 

 used — the purposes of the investigator. And to mention only one- 

 such, they might serve for studying the natural relations and 

 positions of the various parts in different animals. Hitherto, tliia 

 was possible only in frozen specimens, but now in smaller animals^ 

 at least, the mutual relations of internal organs may be studied. 

 I have now shown how specimens may be prepared, with the 



