58 PEOCEEDIXGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



that tlie teachers of Geology and Biologj' "will easily discover a 

 modus Vivendi upon what is, after all, a subject of very secondary 

 importance — the arrangement of Xatural-History collections. 



ISo one can read recent declarations of the present Director of our 

 National lluseum without being impressed by his manifest desire 

 to make the splendid collections under his care reflect as completely 

 as possible the present condition of our knowledge of Biological 

 science. And if, on the other hand, we turn to the remarks made by 

 the Keeper of the Zoological Department at Swansea in 18 SO, and 

 to those of the Keeper of the Palaeontological Department at Man- 

 chester last year, we shall find in those utterances ample guarantees 

 that, in the arrangement of their collections, questions of practical 

 convenience will not be lost sight of ; we shall be satisfied indeed that 

 there is not the smallest danger of revolutionary ideas leading to 

 the removal of " ancient landmarks," or of unattainable ideals being 

 sought through the wholesale commingling of incongruous elements. 

 The collections of our Universities are happily free from the condi- 

 tions which must always hamper an institution where the interests 

 of popular amusement have to be reconciled with those of scientific 

 work ; and it is for the teachers of N'atural Science in those centres 

 of thought to agree upon an arrangement which may best serve to 

 illustrate their courses of instruction. 



But while the discussion on museum-arrangement may be 

 regarded as a purely academical one — which, after scintillating for a 

 while in letters and pamphlets, died out in some not very formid- 

 able explosions at the recent meeting of the British Association — it 

 may be wise on our part not to pass by quite unnoticed some indi- 

 cations of the attitude of the younger school of Biologists towards 

 pal^ontological science, this attitude having been verj^ conspi- 

 cuously manifested during the discussion in question. 



If I rightly apprehend the views of some of my Biological 

 friends, as gathered not only from their published utterances, but 

 also from private conversations, the position they are inclined to 

 take up may be expressed somewhat as follows : — 



" Palaeontology has no right whatever to separate existence as a 

 distinct branch of science. Fossils are simply portions of animals 

 and plants, and ought to be dealt with as such ; for scientific pur- 

 poses it is quite immaterial whether the organism which we are 

 called upon to study expired only an hour since or died millions of 

 years ago. Imperfect fragments can only be properly interpreted 

 in the light afiorded by the more complete structures found in recent 



