120 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1890. 



trotype and other reproductions are furnished to other establishments. 

 I had the great pleasure of examining the art work of prize scholars in 

 the public schools of Great Britain, set up in a large gallery at Ken- 

 sington. I must not neglect to mention the India Museum, which is 

 very near to the South Kensington, containing the spoils of the Orient. 

 My visit to this charming place was made very instructive and delight- 

 ful by the courtesy of the keeper, Mr. C. Purdon Clarke. In a collection 

 devoted to a single region, the national as well as the ethnic idea is 

 sufficiently prominent, prima" facie. The keeper, therefore, has only 

 the notion of effect to study. In the India Museum it is found most 

 convenient to arrange by material and style of treatment; and the 

 visitor, therefore, especially the expert and the specialist, may study 

 jade or metal or textile without embarrassment or distraction. The 

 plan of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is somewhat sim- 

 ilar to that of this great collection. 



The Tower of London is now a great museum devoted to the custody 

 of the crown jewels and of an unparalleled collection of armor and small 

 arms. In this place, as in many other European galleries, the history 

 of the building adds dignity and interest to the material. But in the 

 construction and furnishing of new establishments little will be found 

 here to imitate. The illumination, stairways, convenience of floor 

 space, cases, and fixtures are all as bad as they could well be for pur- 

 poses of exhibition. 



The Anthropological Institute holds its sessions in the building of 

 the Zoological Society, but the month of August found the members all 

 scattered, so that the curator had small opportunity for studying the 

 practical methods of the society. 



During my stay in London I paid several visits to Prof. A. H. Keane, 

 for the purpose of inspecting his summary of ethnology. Such a syn- 

 opsis is most desirable, and I am extremely anxious to see Professor 

 Keane's work in print. 



It was my pleasure to spend a day in the anthropological portion of 

 the Oxford Museum. A galleried annex to the natural history build- 

 ing has been fitted up for the reception of the Lane-Fox collection. In 

 this museum can be seen the best example of a topical arrangement, the 

 purpose being in each alcove or range to show how the inventive genius 

 of man may have passed from one stepping-stone to another in every 

 type of tool, or weapon, or art-production. 



Three motives impelled the curator to visit Paris in the month of 

 August ; namely, the Exposition, the Congresses, and the resources of 

 anthropological study of permanent value there. The science of an- 

 thropology is well organized in Paris, both as regards resources, such as 

 museums, laboratories, libraries, journals, instrument factories, and pub- 

 lishing-houses, and as regards men and organizations. The museums 

 represent the whole science of man's natural history, to wit : 



