August 23, 1895.] 



SCIENCE, 



201 



To stimulate original research in connec- 

 tion with its own collections, and to pro- 

 mote the publication of the results. 



b. For record. — To preserve for future 

 comparative and critical study the material 

 upon which past studies have been made, 

 or which may serve to confirm, correct or 

 modify the results of such studies. Such 

 materials serve to perpetuate the names 

 and identifications used by investigators in 

 their publications and, thus authenticated, 

 to serve as a basis for future investigation 

 in connection with new material. Speci- 

 mens which thus vouch for the work of in- 

 vestigators are called Types. Besides types 

 museums retain for purposes of record 

 many specimens which, though not having 

 served for investigation, are landmarks 

 for past stages in the historj^ of man and 

 nature. 



c. As an adjunct to the class room and the 

 lecture room. — To aid the teacher either 

 of elementary, secondarj', technological or 

 higher knowledge in expounding to his 

 pupils the principles of art, nature and his- 

 tory, and to be used by advanced or pro- 

 fessional students in practical laboratory or 

 studio work. 



To furnish to the advanced or profes- 

 sional student materials and opportunity 

 for laboratory or studio training. 



d. To impart special information. — To aid 

 the occasional inquirer, be he a laboring 

 man, school boy, journalist, public speaker 

 or savant, to obtain, without cost, exact in- 

 formation upon any subject related to the 

 specialities of the institution; serving thus 

 as a 'bureau of information.' 



e. For the culture of the public. To serve 

 the great general public, through the dis- 

 play of attractive exhibition series, well- 

 planned, complete and thoroughly labeled ; 

 and thus to stimulate and broaden the 

 minds of those who are not engaged in 

 scholarly research, and draw them to the 

 public library and the lecture room. In 



this respect the effect of the museum is 

 somewhat analogous to that of travel in 

 distant lands. 



2. A museum to be useful and reputable 

 must be constantly engaged in agressive 

 work, either in education or investigation, 

 or in both. 



3. A museum which is not agressive in 

 policy and constantly improving cannot 

 retain in its service a competent staff and 

 will surely fall into a decay. 



4. A FINISHED MUSEUM IS A DEAD MUSEUM, 

 AND A DEAD MUSEUM IS A USELESS MUSEUM. 



5. Many so-called ' museums ' are little 

 more than storehouses filled with the mate- 

 rials of which museums are made. 



D. The Eesponsibility of Museums to Each 

 Other. 



1. There can be no occasion for envious 

 rivalry betw ^en museums, even when they 

 are in the same city. Every good museum 

 strengthens its neighbors and the success of 

 the one tends to the popularity and public 

 support of the others. 



2. A system of cooperation between mu- 

 seums, by means of which much duplication 

 of work and much expenditure of work 

 may be avoided, is seemingly possible. 



3. The first and most important field 

 for mutual understanding is in regard to 

 specialization of plan. If museums in the 

 same town, province or nation would di- 

 vide the field of work so that each should 

 be recognized as having the first rights in 

 one or more specialities, rivalry would be 

 converted into friendly association and the 

 interests of science and education better 

 served. 



4. An important outcome of such a sys- 

 tem of cooperation might be the transfer of 

 entire groups of specimens from one mu- 

 seum to another. This would greatly facil- 

 itate the woi'k of specialization referred to, 

 and at the same time relieve each museum 

 of the responsibility of maintaining collec- 



