Manchester Memoirs, Vol. /xii, (191 7) No. 3 3 



III. — The Museum Idea. 



We owe the first idea of a Museum of Science and Art in Britain to 

 Lord Bacon (New Atlantis) and the first realisation so far as relates to 

 science, to Elias Ashmole, who founded in 1667 the institution at 

 Oxford bearing his name. This consisted mainly of natural history 

 specimens, mingled with miscellaneous antiquities, now re-organised 

 by Sir Arthur Evans, and transferred to new quarters close to the 

 Taylor Buildings, it has grown into the most perfect classical museum 

 in Britain. It was not until 1747 that the British Museum, which had 

 grown round the centre offered by the Library, was recognised by Act 

 of Parliament. The modern Museum, arranged for scientific purposes, 

 cannot be traced further back than the middle of the 19th century, 

 and is the outcome of the scientific renascence associated with the 

 names of Darwin, Huxley, Flower and Rolleston. The old type of 

 Museum, with its curiosities and other objects, intended to excite 

 wonder, horror or disgust, survived even in Manchester until the 

 beginning of the 'seventies, and still survives elsewhere in small country 

 towns. It was this obsolete type that the House of Commons had in 

 mind, in 19 15, when they closed the British Museum, and other 

 institutions in London for the duration of the War as being of little 

 interest and of little or no value to the general public or to the large 

 influx of visitors from our Colonies and America. Here, in strong 

 contrast to this retrograde measure, both Museums and Art Galleries 

 are not only kept open as before, but are being utilised 

 for systematic instruction in the elementary and secondary schools. 

 In this new development, as in other fields of action, Manchester 

 has taken the lead. In dealing with the general question of 

 Museums and Galleries in Manchester, I shall treat the Manchester 

 Museum as a going concern, see how far it is efficient as a new type 

 specially fitted for the local needs, and lastly how far its principles and 

 methods can be applied to the enlargement of the existing or the 

 founding of new public institutions for the education of the people. 



IV. — The Organisation of The Manchester Museum. 



The Manchester Museum administered by the University as Trustee 

 for the public, and supported by the University and the Corporation 

 of Manchester, is the result of the co-operation of the Natural History 

 and Geological Societies which handed over their collections to the 

 Owens College in 1870, in trust for the good of Manchester. It is in- 

 tended for the use of students in the University, and the advancement 

 for the study of nature among the people. Its scope was enlarged in 

 191 2 by the addition of a new block, to include objects relating to 

 the history and culture of mankind, and more especially of the 

 Egyptian collections presented by Mr. Jesse Howarth. 



The difficulty of grouping together the various objects telling the 

 story of the history of the earth, from its beginning down to the 



