HOME MUSEUMS. 
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attrition, and many are brittle and full of cracks from their 
great age ; some polish well and show beautiful colours and 
veinings ; others contain impressions of fossil shells and sponges. 
The ventriculites, it is true, are generally broken in the middle ; 
indeed, it is rare to find any perfect fossils, but even the pieces 
are worth preserving, as they can be compared with the perfect 
forms figured in geological books. The hints with cavities 
filled with drusy crystals are of many forms and sparkle brightly. 
Chalcedony and jasper can be picked up in our roads. Large 
masses of pudding stone occur in the fields, and when cut in 
half they take a high polish. A large cave in the grounds here 
is mainly formed of blocks of this stone. Now, our neighbour- 
hood is not by any means rich in minerals, but I instance the 
foregoing to prove that even here stores for the home museum 
may be found and utilised. No doubt in other places a far 
greater variety could be obtained. 
Most people have several “outings” in the course of the 
year, when usually there would be opportunities of collecting 
many kinds of specimens, fossils from the chalk or the lias, 
granites from Cornwall or Scotland, ores from any of the 
mining districts, pebbles from the seacoast ; all these and many 
more can be obtained in our own country, and of course a 
foreign trip would afford a much wider range of possibilities for 
acquiring geological specimens. 
The classifying and arranging the minerals thus obtained in 
various ways forms a delightful occupation for intelligent young 
people during the holidays, when kept indoors by wet weather, 
and it is pleasant to watch the keen interest with which fresh 
specimens are welcomed and talked over, each one having, 
perhaps, its own special history. This is the case with my 
own mineral possessions ; one was picked up in the bed of an 
alpine stream and always recalls the beauties of scenery, the 
purity of air, and the sweet scents enjoyed during the mountain 
ramble. The limestone fossils speak of picturesque Derbyshire, 
with its wonderful caverns, stalactites, and crystals. Jaspers of 
every shade made up the beach at Aberystwith, and a glance at 
the polished specimens I brought home with me from there 
never fails to bring back to my memory the soft blue distances 
of the Welsh hills and the grand masses of the old Silurian rocks. 
My knowledge of geology being but very elementary, I often 
found it difficult to ascertain the names of my specimens, even 
with the aid of books. I was therefore glad to learn that any 
mineralogist will correctly name one’s treasures for the small 
sum of one penny each. When this is done, the classifying 
becomes comparatively easy. If one watches for opportunities 
small pieces of minerals never likely to be found by oneself, 
are easily obtained by enquiring for a working lapidary’s shop. 
It will probably be found in a back street, kept often by a poor 
working man, who will be glad enough to obtain and cut small 
specimens of whatever we are seeking. As a rule it is best to 
