I 
PROCEEDINGS—PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. CV 
remark that all the arrangements made by the Council were carried 
out without the slightest hitch or mishap. One suggestion I might 
make in passing, and that is that next winter we might have another 
Conversazione similar to the one we had at the opening, only on a 
less elaborate and expensive scale. Such gatherings afford an oppor¬ 
tunity for friendly intercourse amongst our members, which our 
rather hurried monthly meetings do not give. 
With regard to the New Museum itself, those who have had to 
do with its construction and arrangement cannot but be gratified by 
the very favourable verdict which has been passed on it both by 
strangers—including Sir William Flower and other authorities on 
museum matters—and by our own citizens, many of whom had 
no idea that such a work was going on in their midst. The immense 
advantage of having the Perthshire collections in a room by them¬ 
selves, and of having each department so completely distinct from 
the others that the eye can take in the whole general plan at a 
glance, is now very obvious. The fears of the Committee regarding 
the overcrowding of the floor space with cases have hardly, I think, 
been realised. One criticism has frequently been passed, and not, 
I fear, without good cause, namely, that the lighting is hardly suffi¬ 
cient on an average winter day. It is quite true, of course, that we 
have had an exceptional number of dull dark days during the past 
winter, but still that is a contingency which must be provided for in 
this climate. The fault is not in the amount of window space, but 
in the thick coating of paint with which the glass is covered, both 
inside and outside, in order to protect the colours of the birds, eggs, 
insects, etc., from the bleaching effect of the sunlight. To remedy 
this it may be necessary, before next winter, to remove the paint and 
to provide roof-blinds, which can be drawn on sunny days. 
In my Opening Address at the beginning of the Winter Session 
I referred to the necessity which would shortly arise of finding 
means to provide permanently for the Curator’s salary. Since then 
the Duncan Trustees, seeing the difficulty in which the Council were 
placed, have very generously come to their aid with a grant of £60 
a year for three years. For this assistance, coming as it did when 
our need was greatest, we are deeply grateful, more especially as we 
recognise in the grant an appreciation of our efforts towards the 
education of the community. It must not be forgotten, however, 
that this solution of the difficulty, however welcome, is only a partial 
and temporary one. For a permanent solution the Council are con¬ 
vinced that they must look to the Municipal authority, as indicated 
by Sir Wm. Flower. While on this subject, I may add that the 
universal approval which the Museum has met with from all classes 
of the community leads me to anticipate that a proposal of this 
nature would meet with little or no opposition. In this connection 
I may be allowed to quote a single sentence from Professor Brown- 
Goode, who is at the head of the United States National Museum at 
Washington, and is one of the greatest living authorities on Museum 
administration. In a paper on this subject, which he communicated 
to the Museums Association in Newcastle last summer, he concluded 
with the following significant words :—“ The degree of civilisation to 
