The appearance of yet another popular or scientific 
magazine on a veritable ocean of literature of this 
nature needs some apology ; and I propose to set forth 
briefly the reason of inception of the Sarawak Museum 
Journal, and the lines of work it intends to pursue. 
First, then, let us consider the object of our birth— 
“For the promotion of scientific knowledge and study 
of the Natives and Natural History of the Island of 
Borneo” - -and make that cur excuse. 
Although many interesting and valuable books, 
many scientific memoirs and notes have appeared on 
the Natives and Natural History of Borneo, neverthe¬ 
less we are driven to the usual tantalizing conclusion, 
namely, that the deeper we search into any branch of 
science, the more we realize the extent of our ignorance 
in that branch. And the cry of the specialist continues 
to rise all over the world from every kind of scientific 
institution, “Give us more material for study, more 
records of observations, more extensive data”. In res¬ 
ponse to this, as it were, Museums have sprung up in 
many a distant land, becoming valuable repositories 
for the ethnological, geological and faunistic products 
of their own particular districts ; and to them first of 
all must the scientific student apply for first hand 
assistance in any line of work. Since the sole raison 
d'etre of these institutions is to specialize in their own 
defined areas, so no longer is it necessary for the 
student of Ceylon insects, for instance, to search through 
European collections for his material and data ; his 
first inquiry is now directed to the country itself and 
his first search is among the published records of the 
