160 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 57. 



3. It is often advantageous, in small com- 

 munities, for the museum and public library 

 to be combined under one roof and one man- 

 agement. 



I. College and School Museums. 



1. Museums of this class are intended for 

 the use of teachers in connection with their 

 class-room and laboratory instruction, and 

 to reinforce the library in the no-less-im- 

 portant work which it performs for the stu- 

 dent. 



2. It need scarcely be said that it is im- 

 practicable for the smaller teaching muse- 

 ums connected with schools and colleges to 

 carry out the thorough specialization which 

 is attainable in large institutions. A small 

 collection, however scanty and imperfect it 

 may be, is of great value not only for study 

 purposes in connection with some school or 

 college and for exhibition to the local public 

 of a small town, but also as a nucleus for 

 future development. 



3. The college or school museum often 

 becomes the local or city museum for the 

 localitj' in which it is situated, and what 

 has been said about museums of the latter 

 class then becomes applicable to the college 

 museum. 



J. Professional or Class Museums. 

 1. Professional museums are those formed 

 specially for the use of groups of specialists 

 and for the education of specialists. Here 

 belong medical, surgical and pathological 

 museums; military and naval museums; 

 mechanical museums (such as those con- 

 nected with patent ofBces and the Conserv- 

 atory of Arts and Manufactures in Paris); 

 museums for special arts (like the Textile 

 Museum connected with the Gobelin estab- 

 lishment, the Museum of Porcelains, in 

 Sevres, the Museum of Mosaics in Flor- 

 ence), and certain scientific museums like 

 that of the Geological Survey of Great 

 Britain — the Museum of Practical Geol- 

 ogy — the Museo Psicologico in Florence, 

 founded by Mantegazza, and many others. 



2. Such institutions, usually under the 

 control of a society, school or specialized 

 bureau, although they may allow inspec- 

 tion by the public, do not necessarily un- 

 dertake general educational work, but may 

 with propriety consult first, in all matters 

 relating to administration and display, the 

 interests of the class for which they are 

 formed. 



K. Private Museums or Cabinets. 



1. Such collections undertake work in 

 only one portion of the museum field, that 

 of fostering scientific and historical studies, 

 and so long as they are fruitful in this di- 

 rection, the manner in which they are ad- 

 ministered concerns only the persons by 

 whom they are controlled. It is well that 

 there should be many museums of this kind, 

 and that those who work in them should 

 not be encouraged to dissipate their ener- 

 gies in attempting to do too much of the 

 work which belongs to institutions of other 

 classes, and for which these should be held 

 responsible. These are, to all intents and 

 purposes, scientific laboratories. 



2. The private collector is of the greatest 

 service to the public museum. He can, by 

 the use of private wealth or individual free- 

 dom, do many things which the ofiicers of 

 a public museum cannot. 



3. Private collectors should be encour- 

 aged for educational reasons also, for it has 

 been frequently remarked that the men who 

 have had in j^outh the training afforded by 

 forming a collection have derived therefrom 

 great advantage over others, even though 

 they subsequently pursued commerce or the 

 learned professions. 



4. The private cabinet is the school in 

 which the museum administrator forms the 

 tastes and receives the preliminary training 

 which fits him for his profession. There is 

 much truth in the remark of Jevons that 

 the best museum is that which a person 

 forms for himself. If everyone could do 

 this there would be less need for public 



