INTRODUCTORY COLLECTION. 101 



administration, each of which is under the charge of an 

 officer styled "Keeper" and a staff of Assistants, there is a 

 fifth, at present under the immediate supervision of the 

 Director, and arranged in the Central HaU, the specimens 

 shown in which are intended to be an introduction to those 

 exhibited in the others. 



Inclusive of the last-named collection, the whole of the The specimens 

 specimens contained in the Museum, whether Animal, Vege- three^senes.™ 

 table, or Mineral, are thus arranged in three distinct series, 

 each having its definite end and purpose, as follows : — 



I. An Elementary or Introductory Series, by which the introductory 

 study of every group should commence. In this the leading series™*" ^"^ 

 features of the structure, and, so far as may be, the development 



of the various parts of some of the more typical members of 

 each group, are demonstrated in a clear and simple manner, 

 and the terms used in describing and defining them explained 

 by means of illustrative examples. This idea is carried out in 

 the Department of Mineralogy in a series of cases placed on 

 the north or left-hand side of the gallery containing the rest of 

 the collection. The introductory series to. the vertebrated 

 animals and to the plants has been referred to above in the 

 notice of the Central HaU. 



II. The Exhibited Systematic Series, in which the most ExMbited 



n ■ 1 1 • 1 1 Systematic 



important types oi ammal, plant, or mineral species are snown, series. 



by means of specimens, arranged in a systematic manner, or 



one which exhibits, so far as may be, their natural relations 



to each other. Classification is an important feature in this 



series, which properly should be so extensive and so arranged 



as to enable visitors to the Museum, without recourse to 



assistance from the officials, to find every well-known and 



markedly distinct type of animal, plant, or mineral, and 



satisfy themselves about, at least, its external characters. In 



practice, with the amount of space available, and the resources 



at the disposal of the authorities, it has, however, been found 



impracticable to carry out this ideal in anything like its 



entirety, and in most instances only a selection of specimens 



is in consequence exhibited. 



While the two series above mentioned have for their 



object the diffusion of scientific knowledge, the next minis- 



