92 Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences 



like our own. With a little thought we can readily understand 

 how unsuited are these types of museums, if such they may be 

 called, to modern public needs. In the case of the first two, the 

 idea was simply one of display. Any object of interest on 

 account of its beauty, variety, or oddity was placed on exhibition; 

 and three-legged chickens and four-leaved clovers might find a 

 place by the side of a stamp collection, or a pebble on which 

 George Washington trod. As for the specimens belonging to 

 the learned societies, they were arranged in systematic series, 

 labeled only with data of scientific interest, and the names were 

 of course naturally unintelligible to the ordinary individual. 



Even after our larger public institutions had been founded, 

 the idea of objects for show or display was the prevailing one, 

 and little thought was given to arrangement or labeling. The 

 specimens — the actual objects — were considered the important 

 thing, and curators vied with each other in obtaining large series. 

 At the present time, conditions are very different; and I know 

 whereof I speak when I make the assertion that in modern mu- 

 seum administration, almost without exception, the proper ar- 

 rangement and labeling of exhibits is regarded as of paramount 

 importance. If you have the means to acquire abundant material, 

 so much the better; for if not required for exhibition it will bring 

 in good return when invested in exchanges. But even when a 

 museum is limited by circumstances as to means and scope, like 

 our own, there is no reason why it should not hold a position of 

 dignity and influence simply through the proper use of its 

 resources. 



A few concrete illustrations will serve to make this point more 

 clear. As a school boy, I was a frequent visitor at one of our 

 largest museums. Like most boys I had a strong interest in out- 

 door life and was passing through the collecting fever; so I used 

 to spend hours wandering up and down the long aisles between 

 the cases ; but I have often wondered since how those collections 

 impressed the average adult visitor. 



The birds, for example, filled a large hall. They were ar- 



