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THE USE AND ABUSE OF MUSEUMS. 79
A second branch of the Museum should contain some mpre
sentation of the local natural history, the mrer bi& and
ipsects, especially those which nre likely to become extinct,
the rocks and fossils of any formation for whictl the ]oc&ty
is celebrated, the IocaI herbarium already reforred to. It
not, however, be usually possible to nttcrnpt all the branclles
of the natural history, and the curator rnny propcply acvelop
disproportionately that branch in which he feels most interest
and has most facilities, or which is less rcprdsented in neighbowing
towns.
A third branch of tho Museum may profit.ably contain
almost nny kind of collection which forms tho special hobby
or study of t,ho curator, or of any locnl enthusiast mho likcs to
makc tho public museum the depository of his trcnsures.
Wllethcr it be old china, or Japanese idols, or A~~strnlian
boomerangs, or crystals of calcite, or old bank-notes, or
chnrch-door keys, or the fangs of serpents ; it hardly rnnttcrs
what product of naturo or industry be thus specially represented,
provided that it bo systematically, and, as far as
possible, completely studied. Almost any such thorough collection
will lead to new knowledge, and if the curator be an
intelligent and scientific man he will be able to arrange and
explain it so as to excite interest in his visitors. He will do
this far more effectually if he bo allowed libcrly of choice
in some portion of his collection, in respect to which he, so to
speak, enjoys a certain endowment of research. In fact,
unless t,he curator of a museum becomes an original student
and collector in one or more branches, he is more a
cabinet maker and head door-keeper to his institution
than the man of science who should be a light to half the
county.
The remaining fourth branch of the local Museum should
be simply a blank space, available for the reception of omsional
loan collections,. either from the authorities of South
Kensington, or from other local museums, from private collectors,
or from the united loans of private owners. The idea
of loan collections was perhaps not originated at South Kensington,
but it hss certainly been developed there in a degree