Federated Institution of Mining Engi- M. H. Mills, M.Inst.C.E. Leeds Naturalists' Club and Scientific Harold Wager, F.L.S. Association. Liverpool Geological Society Malton Field Naturalists' and Scientific R. T. G. Abbott. Society. Manchester Geographical Society Midland Union of Natural History Socie- Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society Northamptonshire Natural History So- Eli Sowerbutts, F.R.G.S. Clement Reid, F.G.S. C. A. Markham, F.R.Met.Soc. North Staffordshire Naturalists' Field Dr. J. T. Arlidge, M.A. Nottingham Naturalists' Society W. Bradshaw. H. Coates, F.R.S.E. J. Reginald Ashworth, B.Sc. South London Microscopical and Natural F. W. Hembry, F.R.M.S. History Society. Tyneside Geographical Society Warwickshire Naturalists' and Archæo. logists' Field Club. Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club Yorkshire Geological and Polytechnic Yorkshire Naturalists' Union. G. E. T. Smithson. Rev. J. C. Bevan, M.A. M. B. Slater, F.L.S. OXFORD, FIRST CONFERENCE, AUGUST 9, 1894. The Corresponding Societies Committee were represented by Professor R. Meldola (Chairman), Professor T. G. Bonney, Sir John Evans, Sir Douglas Galton, Dr. Garson, Mr. J. Hopkinson, Mr. Cuthbert Peek, Sir Rawson Rawson, Mr. G. J. Symons, Mr. W. Topley, Mr. W. Whitaker, and Mr. T. V. Holmes (Secretary). The Chairman remarked that as this was their tenth Conference it had been suggested to him that it would afford a good opportunity for a review of the work done during that period. On the whole, however, he thought that a review of that kind might form a dangerous precedent, as tending to the delivery of an annual address which would occupy time more profitably spent in discussing topics in which the delegates were specially interested. Hitherto, owing to a bye-law enacting that the Report of the Corresponding Societies Committee should be presented to the General Committee of the British Association, the Reports of these Conferences had always been a year behind; that held at Edinburgh in 1892, for example, appearing in the British Association volume giving an account of the proceedings at Nottingham in 1893. Steps had been taken, however, to prevent this delay in future, and in the Oxford Report of the British Association the account of the Nottingham Conference and that of the Oxford Conference would appear together. In order that there should be no want of material for discussion at these Conferences, their Secretary and he had written to the Recorder of each Section asking him to bring the existence of the Conference of Delegates under the notice of investigators in those departments of science of which the work might be aided by the co-operation of local observers. They had also taken a new departure in announcing beforehand that some special subject would be discussed at the Conference. On this occasion they had been fortunate enough to secure the attendance of Mr. Cuthbert Peek to open a discussion on Local Museums. Mr. Cuthbert Peek, after stating that he was under great obligations to that admirable organisation, the Museums Association, said that he proposed to deal with the subject under the following headings : 1. Methods of registration and cataloguing. 2. The protection of specimens from injury and dust. 3. The circulation of specimens and type-collections for educational purposes. 4. Central referees for nomenclature and classification. 5. The most satisfactory methods of making museums attractive. 6. Museum lectures and demonstrations. 7. The relations between museums and County Councils. 1. Methods of Registration and Cataloguing. Having examined several systems before arranging a small general museum of his own, he had come to the conclusion that for small museums the card catalogue was the most convenient on account of the ease with which changes and additions could be made. Sectional letters distinguished the various classes of objects. Each specimen when received had a number allotted to it under the letter assigned to the Section. In order that the number might remain attached to the specimen, he painted the letter and number on the specimen with red or white paint, and gave them when dry a coat of oil varnish. When practicable it was a good thing to paste a photograph showing the locality at which the object was found at the back of the card. Labels were often displaced by the careless cleaner, but if the exact dimensions of a specimen, with a rough outline of it, were entered on the back of a card, identification would always be possible. 2. The Protection of Specimens from Injury and Dust.-On this subject it was necessary to remind them that every closed case was practically acted upon by changes in the pressure of the atmosphere (in the same way as the cistern of a mercurial barometer), and that it drew in or gave out air and dust with every change of pressure. Professor Miall, at the Yorkshire College, had a rectangular hole cut in the top of each case and covered with damiette. This filters the air passing in. He (Mr. Peek) felt inclined to use a tube filled with cotton-wool for this purpose. It must be remembered that enough air should be admitted at the authorised entrance to prevent supplies from being sucked in through the inevitable joints and cracks elsewhere. 3. The Circulation of Specimens and Type-collections for Educational Purposes.-The importance of educating the eye was now generally recognised and the London scientific societies are more and more introducing the optical lantern at their evening meetings. The advantage of the circulation of loan collections illustrating the subjects taught in elementary schools was therefore obvious. At Liverpool a system had been elaborated by which loan collections were prepared and circulated among a large number of schools. Experience had shown that the collections should be arranged in cabinets, each containing some special class of objects, such as food products, woods, &c. Those wishing to organise a plan for the circulation of collections of this kind should consult a Paper by Mr. J. Chard in the Report of the Museums Association for 1890. The educational advantages of a museum were much increased by a liberal use of pictorial illustrations placed as near as possible to the objects illustrated. In the case of minute objects drawings on a larger scale were of the highest value, while models and casts were often of the utmost service. Labels should be clear, and should indicate the most important points in plain language. When specimens could be replaced without difficulty a certain amount of handling might be permitted. It was most desirable that overcrowding should be avoided, and that the utmost care should be taken in the selection of type-specimens. Much economy of space would result from the adoption of an American invention which he would briefly describe. The side of the cabinet, instead of having one slide for each drawer, has a series of slides, one inch apart, all the way up the side, the bottom of each drawer having a tongue to fit into one of these slides. It was clear from this that the drawers might be made in multiples of an inch and arranged in any order desired. 4. Central Referees for Nomenclature and Classification.-One of the greatest difficulties which the average curator of a small museum had to deal with was the nomenclature of the varied specimens under his charge. An organisation of specialists who would for a small fee allow specimens to be forwarded to them for identification would be of the greatest possible value. Certain abstruse questions might not even then be easy to answer; but if nine-tenths of our museum specimens could be accurately catalogued a great step in the right direction would be taken. 5. The most satisfactory Method of making Museums attractive.—To those who know the museums at South Kensington, or some of the equally well-arranged local museums, this heading might seem unnecessary. But many present might be able to call to mind some collection in a country town containing many most valuable local specimens, the very existence of which was unknown to the majority of the inhabitants. This state of things was yearly becoming rarer; but many persons could point out some museum almost as much fossilised as the fossils it contained, with labels either illegible from age or invisible from displacement. Those who casually entered such museums seldom revisited them. It was most desirable that the English as well as the Latin name of a specimen should be given. Much might be done to allow of comparisons between creatures of different families or genera. Thus, at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, the skeletons of a man and of a horse in the attitude of running had recently been placed the one in front of the other, so that the relations of the two, bone for bone, could be distinctly seen. The surgical, ordinary, and veterinary names of the bones. were added throughout 6. Museum Lectures and Demonstrations.-While the great value of case-to-case explanations was invariably admitted, the difficulty attending any attempt to make a museum demonstration useful to any large number of persons was equally obvious. One most experienced demonstrator had stated that the largest number that can receive real benefit from a caseto-case demonstration is about a dozen, and had recommended that the lecture, illustrated by specimens and lantern slides, should be given in an ordinary lecture-room, and a demonstration afterwards in the museum to the smaller number seeking further information. In any case it was most desirable that the demonstrator should be placed on a temporary stand, so that he might see and be seen by his audience. 7. The Relations between Museums and County Councils. It having always appeared to him that demonstrations in museums should take a very prominent part in technical education, especially in rural districts, he had been surprised that so little assistance had been given in aid of local collections by County Councils. In order to ascertain what had been done in that direction he had sent out a circular to county council technical education committees, and found that local museums and free libraries had been assisted only in nine cases. The County Council of Cumberland had been the most liberal, having made a grant of 600l. per annum during the last three years for the purpose of aiding the Corporation of Carlisle to erect a museum, free library, and art school. A grant had also been made to a free library at Whitehaven for the purchase of text-books for the use of students at technical instruction classes, and a grant of 2001. per annum had been given to the local board of Millom in aid of the free library and technical school at that town. In Westmorland a grant of 1007. had been made to the Kendal Free Library, and a similar sum had been given for the purchase of books on scientific subjects at other centres in the county. In Northumberland 50 per cent. of the cost of technical books for village and other libraries had (under certain conditions) been defrayed. At Leeds grants had been made to the Free Public Library Committee of the Corporation for the purchase of pictures and books. In Hertfordshire money had been given to free libraries for the purchase of technical books, and in Montgomery grants had been made in two cases. In Surrey no aid had been given to free libraries, but it was proposed to found a museum in connection with buildings for technical education and a reference library. The London County Council had a proposal to aid a certain museum under consideration; and in Dorsetshire the museums at Poole, Dorchester, and Sherborne had all received aid. From some counties no information had yet been received, but enough had been stated to show that there was no insuperable obstacle to the application of money intended for technical education to the development of museums. A leading object with the Government was the development of local activity, and he felt convinced that any grants made to local museums and free libraries would tend more than anything else to further that object. In conclusion Mr. Peek drew attention to the magnificent museum founded at Oxford by General Pitt-Rivers, the arrangement of which was unique. The Chairman thought they were much indebted to Mr. Peek for his paper, and invited remarks thereon. Sir John Evans said that Mr. Peek had left little for anyone to add. The card catalogue would commend itself to everyone on account of the facility with which it could be consulted, but it was a question whether the American system of having a perforated card through which a wire passed, so that the card could not be disturbed, was not preferable. The suggestion that a slight sketch of the object should be made on the back of the card was a valuable one. In the British Museum the date at which an object was received was generally painted upon it. He would be glad if anyone could suggest any means by which the ordinary cabinet could be kept free from dust. It exhaled air when the day was warm, and inhaled it in the cooler evening. He had tried a lining of cottonwool, but did not think the result was perfectly satisfactory. He thought a cabinet constructed on the American principle, alluded to by Mr. Peek, would be liable to dust unless its door was extremely close-fitting, but he had applied the principle in a somewhat different manner. As regards referees for nomenclature and classification, an association like that suggested would, no doubt, be useful but at the present time any curator might consult the keepers of the various departments of the British Museum, either at South Kensington or at Bloomsbury, with a certainty of prompt and valuable assistance. He doubted whether grants to museums would be permitted to pass by the Government auditors, though a grant of technical books to a local museum might be allowed. In thanking Mr. Peek for the manner in which he had brought this subject before them, he was sure that he gave utterance to the feeling of all present. The Rev. O. P. Cambridge believed that in some cases County Councils had made grants which they were not altogether legally entitled to make, but which, from the good work done, were not likely to be called in question. As regards the obliteration of labels, he had a large collection of specimens in spirits of wine, and had been in the habit of gumming labels on the outside. In the course of years he had found that these labels soon became spotted and indistinct, and had consequently written new labels on good paper with a pencil and placed them inside the glass jars with the most satisfactory results. Sir Rawson Rawson, whose experience had been partly tropical, had not always found pencil marks indelible. The Rev. O. P. Cambridge wished to add that some care was necessary in selecting a pencil, which should neither be very hard nor very soft. Dr. Garson could corroborate what had been said as to the advantages of using pencils in spirit preparations. No kind of ink would answer, but a pencil mark would remain a very long time after immersion in spirit. It was an advantage to use a rough paper. Mr. W. Gray thought they were all much indebted to Mr. Peek for the admirable way in which he had handled the subject. It was first necessary to stir up an interest in a locality in order to get a museum; secondly, to have the specimens properly housed; and thirdly, to make the museum attractive. To be attractive it must be educational, and arrangements should be made for the circulation of some of the cases through the country. Aid may then be fairly demanded from the County or City Council. The circulation of specimens did away with the dull, dusty monotony so characteristic of some museums, and which usually prevented them from being visited more than once or twice. Variation in the aspect of a museum constituted a most important element of attraction. In Belfast, through the agency of the Society he represented, they had established the Belfast Central Museum, Art Gallery, and Library. Sir John Evans had given the museum three or four thousand valuable |