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Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



either making the label too small, and so being indistinguishable at 

 any distance, or else of getting it too large and so taking up too 

 much room. The use of glass labels, upon which the name of the 

 specimen is either etched, or written with white paint, has been 

 tried to a limited extent and seems very satisfactory, but it does 

 not seem practicable in all cases. When, therefore, the increase of 

 a collection is hampered by want of space, one of two things must 

 be done. Either the specimens must be so crowded that they can 

 not be seen to advantage, or else a smaller number of specimens 

 must be shown for the general public, and the balance placed where 

 they can be examined by only those specially interested. For ex- 

 ample : it is extremely desirable that a series of birds, showing the 

 characteristics of the several orders and families, be mounted in a 

 natural manner for the purposes of display ; but the larger number 

 of specimens should be kept simply as skins, and in closed cabinets, 

 where they can be comparatively easily kept free from those pests of 

 all museums, the dermestes. So again with animals. A few should 

 be mounted, as man}- in fact as room can be found for, but dupli- 

 cate or varietal forms should be stowed away and kept as skins for 

 the purpose of study only. Precisely the same can be said of shells 

 and fossils. One or two of a kind serve the same purpose for dis- 

 play as a thousand. A closed case with drawers, which slip in and 

 out easily, serves the student; in fact, are of more use to him than 

 large display cases. To study a fossil or a shell, or any small ob- 

 ject, it is necessary to take it in the hand and see it on all sides and 

 at all angles. This can be done with specimens in drawers ; but it 

 is simply impossible in the event of their being placed in exhibition 

 cases. I would recommend, therefore, that space be given to the 

 display of a few attractive objects, and that the bulk of the collec- 

 tions be placed in cases accessible on application by special stu- 

 dents. By so doing, space will be utilized which is now useless, 

 and a far better use can be made of that space which is available. 



It is gratifying to say that the collections have been extensively 

 used by the pupils of the public schools. But it is with regret that 

 I have to state that too often the only use to which these visitors 

 (one can hardly call them students) put the collection, is to name a 

 certain number of specimens which they are required to have. 



