32 REPORT— 1894. 



facility with which it could be consulted, but it was a question whether 

 ^he American system of having a perforated card through which a wire 

 passed, so that the card could not be disturbed, was not preferable. The 

 suggestion that a slight sketch of the object should be made on the back 

 •of the card was a valuable one. In the British Museum the date at 

 which an object was received was generally painted upon it. He would 

 "be glad if anyone could suggest any means by which the ordinary cabinet 

 could be kept free from dust. It exhaled air when the day was warm, 

 and inhaled it in the cooler evening. He had tried a lining of cotton- 

 wool, but did not think the result was perfectly satisfactory. He thought 

 a cabinet constructed on the American principle, alluded to by Mr. Peek, 

 would be liable to dust unless its door was extremely close-fitting, but he had 

 applied the principle in a somewhat ditFerent manner. As regards referees 

 for nomenclature and classification, an association like that suggested 

 would, no doubt, be useful but at the present time any curator might 

 •consult the keepers of the various departments of the British Museum, 

 either at South Kensington or at Bloomsbury, with a certainty of prompt 

 .■and valuable assistance. He doubted whether grants to museums would 

 he permitted to pass by the Government auditors, though a grant of 

 technical books to a local museum might be allowed. In thanking 

 Mr. Peek for the manner in which he had brought this subject before 

 them, he was sure that he gave utterance to the feeling of all present. 



The Rev. O. P. Cambridge believed that in some cases County Councils 

 had made gi-ants which they were not altogether legally entitled to make, 

 but which, from the good work done, were not likely to be called in ques- 

 tion. As regards the obliteration of labels, he had a large collection of 

 specimens in spirits of wine, and had been in the habit of gumming labels 

 on the outside. In the course of years he had found that these labels soon 

 became spotted and indistinct, and had consequently Avritten new labels 

 on good paper with a pencil and placed them inside the glass jars with the 

 most satisfactory results. 



Sir Rawson Rawson, whose experience had been partly tropical, had 

 not always found pencil marks indelible. 



The Rev. O. P. Cambridge wished to add that some care was necessary 

 in selecting a pencil, which should neither be very hard nor very soft. 



Dr. Garson could corroborate what had been said as to the advantages 

 of using pencils in spirit preparations. No kind of ink would answer, but 

 a pencil mark would remain a very long time after immersion in spirit. 

 It was an advantage to use a rough paper. 



Mr. W. Gray thought they were all much indebted to Mr. Peek for 

 the admirable way in which he had handled the subject. It was first 

 necessary to stir up an interest in a locality in order to get a museum ; 

 secondly, to have the specimens properly housed ; and thirdly, to make 

 the museum attractive. To be attractive it must be educational, and 

 arrangements should be made for the circulation of some of the cases 

 through the couuti'y. Aid may then be fairly demanded from the County 

 •or City Council. The circulation of specimens did away with the dull, 

 dusty monotony so characteristic of some museums, and which usually 

 prevented them from being visited more than once or twice. Variation in 

 the aspect of a museum constituted a most important element of attraction. 

 In Belfast, through the agency of the Society he represented, they had 

 established the Belfast Central Museum, Art Gallery, and Library. Sir 

 John Evans had given the museum three or four thousand valuable 



