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Objects. The purpose the Museum is intended to servo is a very distinct 



one— quite different from the functions of any other institution in 

 Sydney. Primarily, the object is to illustrate the geology and 

 mineral deposits of New South Wales ; secondarily, to exhibit 

 for comparison specimens bearing upon special ore-occurrences 

 in other parts of the world. It may thus be compared with such 

 institutions as the Museum of Practical Geology, London; the 

 Mining Bureau Museum, San Prancisco; the Canadian Museum, 

 Ottawa ; the Calcutta Museum ; the Museum of the Chamber of 

 Mines, Johannesburg ; and others. A separate collection to 

 illustrate Economic Geology on an extensive scale is now being 

 undertaken by the Geological Survey of the United States, in 

 connection with the National Museum, Washington. 

 General The central floor-space is occupied by the general collection 



Arrangement. ^^ metallic ores ; those from New South Wales being arranged 

 from right to left on the western, and those from other places 

 arranged from left to right on the eastern, side of the building. 

 The. rock-forming minerals, whether from New South Wales or 

 other localities, are placed together, immediately following the 

 ores on the foreign side. The magnificent collection of fossils 

 ranges round the building in stratigraphical order, beginning with 

 the oldest. At the lower end of the room, in upright cases, are 

 the building stones and lode, and other specimens of large size. 



The ores which constitute the bulk of the collections are 

 classified according to their metallic contents, the order being, in 

 general, that followed in Eutley's Text-book.* An attempt is 

 made to fully illustrate the mode of occurrence of the ores of the 

 different jaetals, and the structure of each important mining 

 district, by means of typical specflnens of country-rock, ore, and 

 associated minerals from different levels. The ores of any given 

 metal are arranged geographically. Prom this it follows that a 

 very subordinate position is assigned to chemical composition. By 

 consistently following this plan, it is hoped to make the Museum 

 of great value to the mining community. f 



* Elements of Mineralogy, price two shilling's. 



t Difficulty is sometimes experienced in obtaining- suitable material, as it is not readily 

 understood that what is wanted is not so much picked specimens, or those that are con- 

 sidered oddities, as the ordinary ores, rooks, &c., which there is a tendency to neglect 

 because they are common. 



