424 Thomas Thomsen. 



part, it should be mentioned that the whole interior furniture of the 

 cases consists of loose shelves, which can be removed at any time with 

 their contents. They were also thus removed for Mr. Thalbitzer's con- 

 venience, and placed outside, where he could freely select and study 

 his material. 



The whole of this arrangement, with its alternating deep divisions, 

 the movable shelves and large doors reaching from floor to ceiling, which 

 can be drawn right back to the glass partition, has been commended 

 by experts as an exceptionally happy solution of the problem: given 

 a restricted amount of space, to obtain a scientifically adequate arrange- 

 ment of the collections, rendering them at the same time thoroughly 

 comprehensible for the ordinary visitor and easily accessible for the 

 scientist. 



Mr. Thalbitzer then goes on to say that he "obtained very little 

 time to study the objects taken from the cases, as they had to be brought 

 out and put in again each day by one of the assistants". It is perfectly 

 true, that the replacing of removed shelves at the end of each working 

 day is one of the constant rules of the Museum. This is necessary, both 

 for the preservation of the objects themselves, and for the convenience 

 of the general public, and there can be no reasonable grounds for complaint 

 when the same shelves are brought out next day by one of the staff 

 to the same place where they had been placed for inspection on the 

 foregoing. The research student would, on the other hand, have every 

 reason to complain if the Museum authorities did not accord him suf- 

 ficient time to prosecute his investigations: on this point again, however, 

 Mr. Thalbitzer's statement is altogether at variance with the actual 

 facts. He was of course at liberty to have the same shelves removed 

 for inspection as often as he might desire. Mr. Thalbitzer has, here 

 evidently used an ill-chosen expression; it cannot have been his intention 

 to say what his words imply. 



With regard to his work in the Museum, Mr. Thalbitzer further 

 states: "I directed a request therefore in 1908 to the Director of the 

 ethnographical section, Dr. Sophus Müller, that I might be permitted 

 to study the collections from East Greenland and first and foremost 

 G. Holm's. In the following year I asked to be allowed to photograph 

 Holm's collection. In the spring of 1910 I succeeded at length in begin- 

 ning the work of photographing which extended over 16 days". 



It must be admitted that this passage, taken sentence by sentence, 

 is perfectly in accordance with the truth; here again, however, Mr. 

 Thalbitzer has been unfortunate in his choice of expression; his words 

 as they stand might well be construed as meaning that the writer had 

 spent a couple of years in vain endeavours to obtain permission to 

 photograph and study the collections. This is far from being the 

 case. Only in a single instance did Mr. Thalbitzer meet with any hin- 

 drance on the part of the Museum authorities, viz. in the case of his 



