REPORT ON MUSEUM WORK XXV 



a record tor those dates. The Museum continues to be visited 

 by large numbers of soldiers and sailors, who are admitted 

 free. , 



One piece of what may perhaps be styled progressive work 

 has been attempted in connexion with our holiday visitors. 

 Large numbers of boys and girls come into the Museum, 

 especially at such times, and I had often wished it were 

 possible to do something to increase their interest in the 

 exhibits. A little before Easter I happened to read in the 

 " Museums Journal " an account of an interesting experiment 

 tried in one of the American Museums, where small cards, 

 each containing a question on the objects in the Museum, 

 were given out to young people. This seemed to me such 

 an excellent idea that I resolved to try it in our Museum, 

 substituting short papers of questions for the cards employed 

 in the Providence Museum, Rhode Island, U.S.A. With the 

 assistance of Mr. Hugh Richardson. Prof. Meek and my son, 

 E. L. Gill, I have been able to provide several papers, each 

 containing six questions, which were distributed at Easter, 

 Whitsuntide and Race Wednesday. Many of these papers were 

 taken and answered by boys and girls, and the results have 

 been encouraging for the continuation and further develop- 

 ment of the practice in future. The questions so far given 

 have been on birds, eggs, fishes and general zoology, and all 

 the questions could be answered from reference to the exhibits 

 in the Museum cases. We may hope that this experiment 

 will help to foster, in some of our juvenile visitors, a taste for 

 Natural History, and, in any case, it cannot fail to bring out 

 increased powers of observation in those who try to answer 

 the questions. 



We are very grateful for the kind assistance continually 

 received from the College Staff located in the Museum, from 

 the Honorary Curators, particularly Mr. R. S. Bagnall and Mr. 

 G. B. Walsh, and from Mr. George Bolam, Mr. W. H. Young, 

 Mr. A. M. Oliver and others, whose long continued help in 

 the Museum is greatly valued. 



