CASE-FURNITURE OP MUSEUMS. 315 



Plates IT. and III. are represented on. This, wHcli was, perhaps, 

 inevitable in a national collection professedly showing to the 

 public every species of bird and mammal in the least possible 

 space, is unpardonable in a provincial museum, which has 

 not the task imposed upon it of attempting to vie with the 

 national collection in point of numhers. Provincial museums, 

 then, if electing to show only animals collected in their imme- 

 diate vicinity or county (which some authorities — of whom 

 anon — say is the only raison d'etre of a provincial museum), or, 

 if electing to supplement these by showing a few foreign forms 

 of striking appearance, fall into grievous error by mounting 

 the necessarily few specimens they can get together on " hat- 

 pegs," simply because the national collection, with which they 

 are not on " all fours," sets them the bad example in this. Now 

 for South Kensington : the imitation I decry is that of black, or 

 black-and-gold cases, suitable the exhibition of art treasures, 

 but objectionable for natural history objects, which, usually 

 dreary enough in their abject condition on pegs, are rendered 

 more funereal by their black, or black-and-gold surroundings ; 

 jet, with these obvious disadvantages, what do we see in some 

 provincial museums ? — a servile adoption of South Kensington 

 '' ebonized " cases, without any reference to fitness. It is positively 

 painful to see elaborately carved and gilded cases, costing, per- 

 haps, a hundred guineas a-piece, entombing a few wretchedly- 

 mounted specimens worth, perhaps, less than £5 the lot. I have 

 technical objections to "ebonized " cases, which I am sure have 

 been lost sight of by all but the makers of such articles. These 

 are — first, that if deal, or pine, or common cedar is used to make 

 the cases with, they will shrink, lose colour, or be easily chipped 

 or dinted, becoming in a short time useless and shabby ; and, 

 on the other hand, if made by first-class makers out of good 

 mahogany, afterwards blacked or "ebonized," their price is 

 enormous, and out of all proportion to their appearance, added 

 to which they get worn on their edges in a short time and show 

 the mahogany underneath in reddish, rust-coloured streaks on 

 their most prominent parts. How ridiculous, then, does it seem 

 to cover up serviceable and handsome (and expensive) mahogany 

 with a coat of black simply for the sake of getting an effect 

 which is, to say the least, depressing ! Well, you will say, you 



