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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 122. 



display of entrails and abortions stewing in 

 some brown decoction in the depth of anti- 

 quated pickle-jars. To suggest such well- 

 known methods to the experienced audi- 

 ence of practical curators before me would 

 be ridiculous and a waste of time. Fortu- 

 nately there are further means that may be 

 employed, and more subtle actions that may 

 be performed, all tending to the same end. 

 First let us consider that jealousy with 

 which a museum curator should guard the 

 precious specimens entrusted to his care, 

 forbidding the profane hands of the mere 

 anatomist ever to disturb them in their 

 holy rest. An excellent instance is afforded 

 us by the history of the genus Spirula, of 

 which an account has recently been pub- 

 lished by Dr. Pelseneer in the Report of the 

 ' Challenger ' Expedition (Appendix, Zo- 

 ology, pt. 83) . Naturalists for long desired 

 to obtain individuals of this interesting 

 genus for dissection, but only fragmentary 

 specimens came into their hands. At last, 

 in 1865, a complete individual was collected 

 near Port Jackson. The hopes of the 

 naturalist were raised ; " but," says Pelse- 

 neer, " but it was deposited in the Sydney 

 Museum, and consequently could not be 

 made the subject of anatomical research." 

 There are other specimens in various pub- 

 lic and private collections, notably in Lon- 

 don ; but they too, like the specimen in 

 the Sydney Museum, cannot be made 

 the subjects of scientific investigation. As 

 curators we must regret that two speci- 

 mens which were in the hands of a captain 

 of the French navy, who for many years 

 zealously refused to trust them to a zoolo- 

 gist — we must, I say, regret that, in the 

 words of Pelseneer, " on the death of their 

 owner, thanks to Professor Giard, these 

 Spirilla: did not become the prey of a public 

 collection." There are investigators so 

 eaten up with their own conceit as to be 

 bold enough to say that a specimen which 

 shows nothing cannot be hurt by dissection, 



since it cannot show less and there is the 

 chance of its showing more. Be not de- 

 ceived ! Do not allow the hidden recesses 

 of your specimens to be explored by the 

 devastating scalpel ! What does it matter 

 whether their internal anatomy can be seen 

 or no ? They have been entrusted to you 

 for safe preservation, and you as a faithful 

 steward will have to render account of the 

 same. 



The exhibition series of a museum are, 

 in their essence, potent agents for retard- 

 ing the advance of science. By mere force 

 of circumstances, lack of time, underman- 

 ning, and so forth, the arrangement of 

 specimens in the show-cases of a museum 

 remains the same throughout many years, 

 and names there applied to genera and 

 species cannot be constantly changed. 

 Classifications come and classifications go, 

 but the classification that was adopted 

 when the museum was built, say fifty 

 years ago, seems likely to go on forever. 

 Possibly even those who are in favor of in- 

 troducing ideas into our scientific classifi- 

 cations, and who think that the arrange- 

 ment of species and genera should be in 

 accordance with their aflBinities and the 

 facts of their structure, and, therefore, 

 should change as our knowledge of that 

 structure increases — even those fanatics, I 

 say, may possibly regard this influence of 

 museums as in some sort a chastening one. 

 After all, it may not conduce to the 

 advancement of science that each of us 

 should have his own special classification 

 and should call animals by his own pet 

 names ; and the museum here comes in, 

 like its companion, the text-book, as a 

 maintainer of stability amid the vagaries 

 of ephemeral publication. Still knowledge 

 does increase, science does advance, and 

 classifications and names unfortunately do 

 change. It is in our power to prevent this 

 knowledge percolating to the mass of the 

 people. If we are unable, like the text- 



