I do not
think that a museum which brings about this result does all that may be
reasonably expected from such an institution. What is needed in a
collection of natural history is that it should be made as accessible
and as useful as possible, on the one hand to the general public, and on
the other to scientific workers. That need is not met by constructing a
sort of happy hunting-ground of miles of glass cases; and, under the
pretence of exhibiting everything, putting the maximum amount of
obstacle in the way of those who wish properly to see anything.

What the public want is easy and unhindered access to such a collection
as they can understand and appreciate; and what the men of science want
is similar access to the materials of science. To this end the vast mass
of objects of natural history should be divided into two parts--one open
to the public, the other to men of science, every day. The former
division should exemplify all the more important and interesting forms
of life. Explanatory tablets should be attached to them, and catalogues
containing clearly-written popular expositions of the general
significance of the objects exhibited should be provided. The latter
should contain, packed into a comparatively small space, in rooms
adapted for working purposes, the objects of purely scientific interest.
For example, we will say I am an ornithologist. I go to examine a
collection of birds. It is a positive nuisance to have them stuffed. It
is not only sheer waste, but I have to reckon with the ideas of the
bird-stuffer, while, if I have the skin and nobody has interfered with
it, I can form my own judgment as to what the bird was like. For
ornithological purposes, what is needed is not glass cases full of
stuffed birds on perches, but convenient drawers into each of which a
great quantity of skins will go. They occupy no great space and do not
require any expenditure beyond their original cost. But for the
edification of the public, who want to learn indeed, but do not seek for
minute and technical knowledge, the case is different. What one of the
general public walking into a collection of birds desires to see is not
all the birds that can be got together. He does not want to compare a
hundred species of the sparrow tribe side by side; but he wishes to know
what a bird is, and what are the great modifications of bird structure,
and to be able to get at that knowledge easily. What will best serve his
purpose is a c