A Museum is, moreover, a meaus of spreading culture among the in- 

 telligent lower classes, and such visitors leave it all the better for having 

 been there, as it is impossible that they should not carry away some sort 

 of idea which otherwise would not have occurred to them. But for the 

 wants of the public a descriptive Guide Book containing elementary in- 

 planations is necessary for the right understanding of the objects exhi- 

 bited. The effect of museums is to elevate a man's character ; and if 

 our Sabbatarian teachers would admit that truth, access to the Museum 

 on Sundays would no longer be denied to those who have no other oppor- 

 tunity in the week, and who do not go to church or chapel. For my 

 part, I am unconvinced by the specious arguments which seek to 

 justify the opening of our Botanic Gardens, and its museum and zoological 

 collection, and the closing of the Zoological Museum on Sunday after- 

 noons. 



In our Museum we have not only to consider the wants of the gazing 

 public, but also to provide for the requirements of the special student 

 and to afford materials for the savant in promoting original research 

 which functions ought not to be sacrificed for the benefit of mere sight- 

 seers. For the former we must have mounted skins of vertebrates 

 showy insects in their perfect stage, prettily-coloured shells, miniature 

 groves of coral, and the like. But Science and Instruction require a 

 great deal more — the animal must be exhibited as far as possible in all 

 its parts, and in all phases of its life ; the skin of the kangaroo should be 

 accompanied by its corresponding skeleton ; the bird with its nest and 

 eggs ; the perfect insect, with its eggs, larva, and pupa ; shells, with the 

 animals which produce them, and in every case the station and habit of 

 the animal should be affixed to the specimen. 



Collections of typical specimens of this country are absolutely neces- 

 sary for the advancement of Natural History studies, as the teaching of 

 the elements of the science should be by means of the familiar objects 

 around us. It is a reproach to this State that its Museum so imperfectly 

 — I might say, hardly at all — represents its natural characters ; for it 

 happens that the things most characteristic of the country are not thought 

 worth exhibiting ; our mineral industiies are absolutely unrepresented, if 

 I may except a very few specimens of gold and copper ores. Though I hold 

 that our colonial productions should be most fully represented ; yet it is 

 not necessary that all should be exhibited, but nevertheless all should 

 always be open to the inspection of the student. 



