REPORT OF A.8618TANT DIRECT* 9 



thought. Objects which have served as a foundatiou for scientific 

 study, or which, from their historical significance, are treasured ii|> and 

 preserved from destruction thai they maj serve purposes of record — 

 permanent Land-marks of the progress of the world in thought, in cul- 

 ture, or in industrial achievement — they are not 011I3 records of what 

 has been done in the past, but they constitute the most valuable of all 

 materials for future study. The museum of record, then, is not oulj an 

 accessory to the museum of research, but an adjunct which accom 



plishes similar and fully equal results in the same direction. 



The contents Of the museum of research and the museum of record, 

 if no other objects he sought save those already mentioned, might with 



out impropriety be stored away in vaults and cabinets, inaccessible to 

 any except the specialist. To give them their highest value, however, 



they should he arranged in such a manner that hundreds of thousands 

 Of people should profit by their examination instead of a \ er\ limited 

 number, and that they should afford a means of culture and instruction 

 to every person, young or old, who may have opportunity to visit the 

 place in which they are preserved. 



It is much to be regretted that many specialists, intent chiefly upon 

 the study of certain scientific problems in which they individually are 

 absorbed, are disposed to neglect the claims of the educated public 

 to the enjoyment and instruction which museums afford. They do not 

 hesitate to say that scientific museums should be administered for the 

 benefit solely of persons engaged in research. At a recent meeting of 

 professional naturalists, an eminent investigator in natural science pub- 

 licly expressed his opposition to exhibiting certain scientific collections 

 to "the gaping- clowns who form the majority of the visitors to our 

 museums." Such a spirit defeats its own purposes, and such a remark 

 deserves no answer. The experience of Europe with its magnificent 

 educational museums and the history of the several expositions in the 

 United States should be quite sufficient to satisfy any one who has 

 studied the matter that the museum is an educational power even more 

 influential than the public library. 



The venerable director of the South Kensington Museum, speaking 

 from an experience of thirty-live years, not only in his own establish- 

 ment, but in the work of building up the score of sister museums, now 

 under its wing, located in the various provincial towns of Great Britain, 

 remarked 1<> the writer: "We educate our working people in the pub- 

 lic schools, give them a love for refined and beautiful objects, ami 

 stimulate in them a desire for information. They leave school, go into 

 the pursuits of town life, and have no means provided lor the gratifica- 

 tion of the tastes which they have been forced to acquire. It is as 

 much the duty of the government to provide them with museums and 

 Libraries lor their higher education as it is to establish schools for their 

 primary instruction." 



