iy PREFACE, 
arrangement which would prevent their lapsing, as is 
too frequently the case, into unmeaning collections of 
curiosities. 
. “This division of museums into two classes is now 
clearly recognized in England, and its adoption has 
been strongly recommended in the re-arrangement of 
the Natural History collections in the British Museum, 
“Tt appears to me that an arrangement of this 
kind with regard to Museums is particularly applic- 
able to New Zealand, as the most favourable for the 
rapid development of its resources ; and it is with this 
view that the Colonial Museum should be foxmed— 
not as a rival, but to assist the local typical Museums, 
the establishment of which should be encouraged in 
all the principal centres of population, for the rUxpose 
of giving instruction respecting the resources and 
natural history of the country, as well as acting as a 
stimulus and guide to local research in those branches 
of knowledge. 
“The chief expense of the scientific Museum 
arises from the nature of the staff required {or the 
comparison, analysis and discrimination of specimens, 
and for publication; but as the labours of this staff 
will be available for the different local Museums, these 
latter will be spared all further superintendence deyond 
that of a Curator and a Committee of Management, 
and be maintained at a very small annual expelse, 
“In this way each Province might have a popular 
Museum on any scale of expense that suited the 
requirements and taste of the inhabitants, and for 
