146 F. M. Chapman: 



duplicate, and still be of great practical assistance to the 

 student. The possibilities of loss or damage are far out- 

 weighed by the educational value to be derived, and in 

 practice are reduced to nil. 



I would also emphasize the desirability of aiding the 

 specialist as far as practicable, not only by giving him every 

 opportunity to study collections in the Museum, but by 

 loaning such specimens as he may find wanting in his own 

 collections. So much of the material gathered is condemned 

 to a life of darkness that any Museum regulation which 

 forbids the loan of specimens to responsible applicants is 

 greatly to be deplored. Such rules may rightly be made to 

 apply to type or unique specimens without thereby largely 

 decreasing the study value of the available loan collections. 



Without going further into the subject of study collections, 

 and their use, I may sum up my estimate of their place in 

 ornithology by considering them simply as means to an end ; 

 and this end is to render the bird of the greatest possible 

 value to man, an end which, so far as our Museums are 

 concerned, is to be accomplished chiefly in their exhibition 

 halls. 



That science which is sufficient unto itself has no excuse for 

 its existence. If our studies of birds have no bearing on the 

 progress and welfare of mankind they are futile. That they 

 have such a bearing, and in an exceptional degree, we know 

 to be undeniable ; it is obviously, therefore, the function of 

 the Museum to demonstrate this connection in such a manner 

 as to render apparent the bird's place in nature and its rela- 

 tion to man. 



In attempting to accomplish this end, the composition of 

 what we may collectively term our audience should receive 

 the same careful consideration which is given by the lecturer, 

 who, under not dissimilar conditions, adapts his discourse to 

 the character of his hearers. 



EXHIBITION COLLECTIONS. 



Generally speaking, we may divide the visitors to our 

 exhibition halls into two classes: — First, those with a pur- 

 pose ; second, those with no definite object. 



