CORRESPONDING SOCIETIES. 29 



General Committee of the British Association, the Reports of these Confer- 

 ences had always been a year behind ; that held at Edinburgh in 1892, for 

 example, appearing in the British Association volume giving an account of 

 the proceedings at Nottingham in 1893, Steps had been taken, however, 

 to prevent this delay in future, and in the Oxford Report of the British 

 Association the account of the Nottingham Conference and that of the 

 Oxford Conference would appear together. In order that there should be 

 no want of material for discussion at these Conferences, their Secretary 

 and he had written to the Recorder of each Section asking him to bring the 

 existence of the Conference of Delegates under the notice of investigators 

 in those departments of science of which the work might be aided by the 

 co-operation of local observers. They had also taken a new departure in 

 announcing beforehand that some special subject would be discussed at 

 the Conference. On this occasion they had been fortunate enough to 

 secure the attendance of Mr. Cuthbert Peek to open a discussion on Local 

 Museums. 



Mr. Cuthbert Peek, after stating that he was under great obligations 

 to that admirable organisation, the Museums Association, said that he 

 proposed to deal with the subject under the following headings : — 



1. Methods of registration and cataloguing. 



2. The protection of specimens from injury and dust. 



3. The circulation of specimens and type-collections for educational 



purposes. 



4. Central referees for nomenclature and classification. 



5. The most satisfactory methods of making museums attractive. 



6. Museum lectures and demonstrations. 



7. The relations between museums and County Councils. 



I 1. Methods of Registration and Cataloguing. — Having examined several 

 systems before arranging a small general museum of his own, he had come 

 to the conclusion that for small museums the card catalogue was the most 

 convenient on account of the ease with which changes and additions 

 could be made. Sectional letters distinguished the various classes of 

 objects. Each specimen when received had a number allotted to it under 

 the letter assigned to the Section. In order that the number might remain 

 attached to the specimen, he painted the letter and number on the speci- 

 men with red or white paint, and gave them when dry a coat of oil 

 varnish. When practicable it was a good thing to paste a photograph 

 showing the locality at which the object was found at the back of the 

 card. Labels were often displaced by the careless cleaner, but if the exact 

 dimensions of a specimen, with a rough outline of it, were entered on the 

 back of a card, identification would always be possible. 



2. The Protection of Specimens from Injury and Dust. — On this subject 

 it was necessary to remind them that every closed case was practically 

 acted upon by changes in the pressure of the atmosphere (in the same 

 way as the cistern of a mercurial barometer), and that it drew in or gave 

 out air and dust with every change of pressure. Professor Miall, at the 

 Yorkshire College, had a rectangular hole cut in the top of each case and 

 covered with damiette. This filters the air passing in. He (Mr. Peek) 

 felt inclined to use a tube filled with cotton-wool for this purpose. It 

 must be remembered that enough air should be admitted at the authorised 

 entrance to prevent supplies from being sucked in through the inevitable 

 joints and cracks elsewhere. 



