PROCEEDINGS—PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. CXXV 
culled from various Museums in the south visited during the 
summer months, and perhaps still more by his own inventive faculty, 
our Curator has devised a system of labelling and illustration for the 
Index Collections which, when complete, will greatly enhance both 
their attractiveness and their educational value. In the Perthshire 
Museum the chief changes which have taken place are the removal of 
the paint from the roof-lights, which has increased the lighting to an 
almost injurious extent, and the ventilating of the wall cases, which 
has removed the slight tendency to mould which some of the 
specimens formerly showed. 
I need not refer to the additions to the collections, as these will 
be reported on by Mr. Rodger himself. Before I leave the subject 
of the Museum, however, I should like to express the very great 
satisfaction which I am sure every member of this Society must have 
felt in having the opportunity of receiving the members of the Museums 
Association during their visit to Scotland last July. I would also take 
this opportunity of returning to Lord Provost Dewar and to Sir Robert 
Pullar our warmest thanks for co-operating with the Society in making 
the visit a pleasant and memorable one. I need hardly point out 
that to have our Museum visited and criticised by leading specialists 
from all parts of the country was a satisfaction and a benefit of no 
ordinary kind. Many most useful hints and suggestions were thrown 
out, and arrangements were made for exchanges which have already 
begun to bear fruit. The verdict passed was on the whole extremely 
favourable, and in some cases almost too flattering. Many of the 
Curators have since written to me expressing their opinions on what 
they saw, and these letters, along with others on the same subject, I 
hope ere long to publish for the benefit of those interested. 
In one case, however, I received even more impartial testimony, in the 
form of the printed report of one of the Curators to his Board of 
Managers. In this report the writer, after describing the plan of 
our Museum, and its arrangement, says :—“ This Institution, though 
small in dimensions, is an admirable model of what a local Museum 
should be; ” and again, “ In its conception and execution, this 
Museum is the most perfect of its kind we have yet seen, and ought 
to be inspected and studied by every provincial Curator.” 
Summer Excursions, 1896. 
I come now to the other department of our work during the past 
summer, namely, our outdoor or “ field ” work. As usual, we had 
our official excursions, and also some unofficial excursions, which, 
though not on the card, were equally enjoyable and profitable. Of 
the former, thirteen altogether were arranged, including nine whole- 
day and four half-day excursions. Of the thirteen, all came 
off except two, namely, one to Balvaird Castle and one to Ben 
Lawers, the former being postponed till next season and the latter 
being rendered impossible by a storm of wind and rain. On the 
whole, however, the Society was extremely favoured as regards 
weather, all the other days turning out bright and fine, with the heat 
not excessive. The result was that the attendance at most of the 
excursions was very satisfactory, the largest number being 21, and 
