198 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. No. 34. 



It is still true, as it was when Professor 

 Jevons wrote, in 1881, that there is not in 

 existence ' a treatise analj'zing the purposes 

 and kinds of museums and discussing the 

 general principles of their management and 

 economy.' With this fact in mind I have 

 ventured to begin the preparation of such 

 a treatise and to attempt to bring together 

 in one systematic sequence the principles 

 which I believe to underlie the practice of 

 the wisest and most experienced of modern 

 museum administrators. 



My ideas are presented, it may be, in a 

 somewhat dogmatic manner, often in the 

 form of aphorisms, and to the experienced 

 museum worker many of them will, per- 

 haps, sound like truisms. 



I have had two objects in view: 



It has been my desire, in the first place, 

 to begin th^ codification of the accepted 

 principles of museum administration, hoj)- 

 ing that the outline which is here presented 

 may serve as the foundation for a complete 

 statement of those principles, such as can 

 only be prepared through the cooperation of 

 many minds. With this in view, it is hoped 

 that the paper may be the cause of much 

 critical discussion. 



My other purpose has been to set forth 

 the aims and ambitions of modern museum 

 practice, in such a manner that they shall 

 be intelligible to the persons who are re- 

 sponsible for the establishment of museums 

 and also to the directors of other public insti- 

 tutions founded for similar purposes, in oi-der 

 to evoke more fully their si'mpathj;- and co- 

 operation. 



Museums, of art and history, as well as 

 those of science, are discussed in this paper, 

 since the same general principles appear to 

 be applicable to all. 



The theses proposed are two hundred and 

 fifteen in number and are arranged under 

 the following heads or chapters : 



I. The Museum and its Kelationship ; 

 II. The Responsibilities and Requirements 



of Museums ; III. The Five Cardinal Ne- 

 cessities in Museum Administration ; IV. 

 The Classification of Museums ; V. The 

 Uses of Specimens and Collections; VI. 

 The Preservation and Preparation of Mu- 

 seum Materials ; VII. The Art of Instal- 

 lation ; VIII. Eecoi-ds, Catalogues and 

 Specimen Labels ; IX. Exhibition Labels 

 and Their Function ; X. Guides and Lec- 

 turers ; Hand Books and Reference-books ; 

 XI. The Future of Museum Work. 



[The introductory portion, consisting of 

 the first three chapters, and the last chapter 

 are here printed. The remainder of the 

 paper is more technical and is intended 

 especially for the consideration of persons 

 engaged directly in museum work.] 



THE MUSEUM AND ITS RELATIONSHIPS. 



A. The Museum Defined. 



1. A museum is an institution for the 

 preservation of those objects which best 

 illustrate the phenomena of nature and the 

 works of man, and the utilization of these 

 for the increase of knowledge and for the 

 culture and enlightenment of the people. 



B. The Relation of the Museum to other Institu- 

 tions of Learning. 



1. The Museum in its effort for the in- 

 crease and diffusion of knowledge aids and 

 is aided by (a) the university and college, 

 (b) the learned society and (c) the public 

 library. 



2. The special function of the museum is 

 to preserve and utilize objects of nature 

 and works of art and industry ; that of the 

 librarj' to guard the written records of hu- 

 man thought and activity ; that of the 

 learned society to discuss facts and theo- 

 ries ; that of the school to educate the in- 

 dividual, while all meet together on com- 

 mon ground in the custodianship of learning 

 and in extending the boundaries of existing 

 knowledge. 



3. The care and utilization of material 

 objects being the peculiar duty of the mu- 



