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MUSEUMS OF SCIENCE

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 68 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MUSEUMS OF See also:

SCIENCE . The ideal museum should See also:cover the whole See also:field of human knowledge. It should See also:teach the truths of all the sciences, including See also:anthropology, the science which deals with See also:man and all his See also:works in every See also:age. All the sciences and all the arts are correlated. The wide separation of collections illustrative of the arts (see MUSEUMS OF See also:ART above) from those illustrative of the sciences, and their treatment as if belonging to a wholly different See also:sphere, is arbitrary. Such separation, which is to-See also:day the See also:rule rather than the exception, is due to the circumstances of the origin of many collections, or in other cases to the limitations imposed by poverty or lack of space. Many of the See also:national museums of See also:continental See also:Europe had their beginnings in collections privately acquired by monarchs, who, at a See also:time when the See also:modern sciences were in their See also:infancy, entertained themselves by assembling See also:objects which appealed to their love of the beautiful and the curious. The pictures, See also:marbles, bronzes and brit-a-brac of the See also:palace became the See also:nucleus of the museum of to-day, and in some notable cases the palace itself was converted into a museum. In a few instances these museums, in which works of art had the first See also:place, have been enriched and supplemented by collections illustrative of the advancing sciences of a later date, but in a See also:majority of cases these collections have remained what they were at the outset, See also:mere exponents of human handicraft in one or the other, or all of its various departments. Some See also:recent See also:great See also:foundations have copied the more or less defective See also:models of the past, and museums devoted exclusively to the See also:illustration of one or the other narrow segment of knowledge will no doubt continue to be multiplied, and in spite of their limited range, will do much See also:good. A notable illustration of the See also:influence of lack of space in bringing about a separation of anthropological collections from collections illustrative of other sciences is afforded by the national collection in See also:London. For many years the collections of the See also:British Museum, See also:literary, See also:artistic and scientific, were assembled in ideal relationship in Bloomsbury, but at last the See also:accumulation of treasure became so vast and the difficulties of See also:administration were so pressing that a separation was decided upon, and the natural See also:history collections were finally removed to the See also:separate museum in See also:Cromwell Road, See also:South See also:Kensington.

But the student of museums can never fail to regret that the necessities of space and See also:

financial considerations compelled this separation, which in a measure destroyed the ideal relationship which had for so many years obtained. The See also:ancient See also:world knew nothing of museums in the modern sense of the See also:term. There were collections of paintings and statuary in the temples and palaces of See also:Greece and See also:Rome; the homes of the wealthy were everywhere adorned by works of art; curious objects of natural history were often brought from afar, as the skins of the See also:female gorillas, which See also:Hanno after his voyage on the See also:west See also:coast of See also:Africa hung up in the See also:temple of See also:Astarte at See also:Carthage; See also:Alexander the Great granted to his illustrious teacher, See also:Aristotle, a large sum of See also:money for use in his scientific researches, sent him natural history collections from conquered lands, and put at his service thousands of men to collect specimens, upon which he based his See also:work on natural history; the museum of See also:Alexandria, which included within its keeping the Alexandrian library, was a great university composed of a number of associated colleges; but there was nowhere in all the ancient world an institution which exactly corresponded in its See also:scope and purpose to the modern museum. The term " museum," after the burning of the great institution of Alexandria, appears to have fallen into disuse from the 4th to the 17th See also:century, and the See also:idea which the word represented slipped from the minds of men. The revival of learning in the 15th century was accompanied by an awakening of See also:interest in classical antiquity, and many persons laboured eagerly upon the collection of memorials of the past. Statuary, See also:inscriptions, gems, coins, medals and See also:manuscripts were assembled by the wealthy and the learned. The leaders in this See also:movement were presently followed by others who devoted themselves to the See also:search for minerals, See also:plants and curious animals. Among the more famous See also:early collectors of objects of natural history maybe mentioned Georg See also:Agricola (1490-1555), who has been styled " the See also:father of See also:mineralogy." By his labours the elector See also:Augustus of See also:Saxony was induced to establish the Kunst and Naturalien Kammer, which has since See also:expanded into the various museums at See also:Dresden. One of his contempo- xIx. 3raries was See also:Conrad See also:Gesner of See also:Zurich (1516-1565), " the See also:German See also:Pliny," whose writings are still resorted to by the curious. Others whose names are See also:familiar were See also:Pierre See also:Belon (1517–1564), See also:professor at the See also:College de See also:France; See also:Andrea Cesalpini (1519-1603),. whose See also:herbarium is still preserved at See also:Florence; Ulissi See also:Aldrovandi (1522-1605), remnants of whose collections still exist at See also:Bologna; Ole See also:Worm (1588–1654), a Danish physician, after whom the so-called " Wormian bones " of the See also:skull are named, and who was one of the first to cultivate what is now known as the science of prehistoric See also:archaeology. At a later date the collection of See also:Albert Seba (1665–1736) of See also:Amsterdam became famous, and was See also:purchased by See also:Peter the Great in 1716, and removed to St See also:Petersburg.

In Great See also:

Britain among early collectors were the two Tradescants; See also:Sir See also:John See also:Woodward (1665–1728), a portion of whose collections, bequeathed by him to See also:Cambridge University is still preserved there in the Woodwardian or See also:Geological Museum; Sir See also:James See also:Balfour (1600-1657), and Sir See also:Andrew Balfour (163o-1694), whose work was continued in See also:part by Sir See also:Robert See also:Sibbald (1641–1722). The first See also:person to elaborate and See also:present to modern minds the thought of an institution which should assemble within its walls the things which men wish to see and study was See also:Bacon, who in his New See also:Atlantis (1627) broadly sketched the outline of a great national museum of science and art. The first surviving scientific museum established upon a substantial basis was the Ashmolean Museum at See also:Oxford, founded by See also:Elias Ashmole. The See also:original collection had been made by the Tradescants, father and son, gardeners who were in the employment of the See also:duke of See also:Buckingham and later of See also:King See also:Charles I. and his See also:queen; it consisted of " twelve cartloads of curiosities," principally from See also:Virginia and See also:Algiers, which the younger Tradescant bequeathed to Ashmole, and which, after much litigation with Tradescant's widow, he gave to Oxford upon See also:condition that a suitable See also:building should be provided. This was done in 1682 after plans by Sir See also:Christopher See also:Wren. Ashmole in his See also:diary makes See also:record, on the 17th of See also:February 1683, that " the last load of my rareties was sent to the See also:barge, and this afternoon I relapsed into the See also:gout." The See also:establishment of the German See also:academy of Naturae Curiosi in 1652, of the Royal Society of London in 166o, and of the See also:Academic See also:des Sciences of See also:Paris in 1666, imparted a powerful impulse to scientific investigation, which was reflected not only in the labours of a multitude of persons who undertook the formation of private scientific collections, but in the See also:initiation by crowned heads of movements looking toward the formation of national collections, many of which, having their beginnings in the latter See also:half of the 17th century and the early years of the 18th century, survive to the present day. The most famous of all See also:English collectors in his time was Sir Hans See also:Sloane (166o–i753), whose vast collection, acquired at a great outlay of money, and including the collections of Petiver, Courten, Merret, Plukenet, and Buddle—all of which he had purchased—was by his will bequeathed to the British nation on condition that See also:parliament should pay to his heirs the sum of £20,000, a sum far less than that which he had expended upon it, and representing, it is said, only the value of the coins which it contained. Sloane was a man who might justly have said of himself " humani nihil a me alienum puto "; and his collection attested the catholicity of his tastes and the breadth of his scientific appetencies. The See also:bequest of Sloane was accepted upon the terms of his will, and, together with the library of See also:George II., which had likewise been bequeathed to the nation, was thrown open to the public at Bloomsbury in 1759 as the British Museum. As showing the great advances which have occurred in the administration of museums since that day, the following See also:extract taken from A See also:Guide-See also:Book to the See also:General Contents of the British Museum, published in 1761, is interesting: ". . . fifteen persons are allowed to view it in one See also:Company, the Time allotted is two See also:Hours; and when any Number not exceeding fifteen are inclined to see it, they must send a See also:List of their See also:Christian and Sirnames, Additions, and Places of See also:Abode, to the See also:Porter's See also:Lodge, in See also:order to their being entered in the Book; in a few Days the respective Tickets will be made out, specifying II the Day and See also:Hour in which they are to come, which, on being petrography and the invertebrate paleontology of the British Islands. The botanical collections at See also:Kew are classic, and are as See also:rich in types as are the zoological collections of the British Museum.

The Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons contains a notable assemblage of specimens illustrating See also:

anatomy, both human and See also:comparative, as well as See also:pathology. In London also a number of private owners possess large collections of natural history specimens, principally ornithological, entomological and conchological, in some instances destined to find a final resting place in the national collection. One of the most important of these great collections is that formed by F. Ducane Godman, whose work on the See also:fauna of See also:middle See also:America, entitled Biologic centrali-americana, is an enduring See also:monument to his learning and generosity. The Hon. See also:Walter See also:Rothschild has accumulated at See also:Tring one of the largest and most important natural history collections which has ever been assembled by a single individual. It is particularly rich in rare See also:species which are either already See also:extinct or verging upon extinction, and the ornithological and entomological collections are vast in extent and rich in types. See also:Lord See also:Walsingham has at his See also:country seat, Merton See also:Hall, near See also:Thetford, the largest and most perfect collection of the microlepidoptera of the world which is in existence. The Ashmolean Museum and the University Museum at Oxford, and the Woodwardian Museum and the University Museum at Cambridge, are remarkable collections. The See also:Free Public Museum at See also:Liverpool is in some respects one of the finest and most successfully arranged museums in Great Britain. It contains a great See also:wealth of important scientific material, and is rich in types, particularly of birds. The See also:Manchester Museum of See also:Owens College and the museum in See also:Sheffield have in recent years accomplished much for the cause of science and popular See also:education.

The See also:

Bristol Museum has latterly achieved considerable growth and has become a centre of much enlightened activity. The Royal Scottish Museum, the herbarium of the Royal Botanical See also:Garden, and the collections of the Challenger Expedition See also:Office in See also:Edinburgh, are worthy of particular mention. The museum of the university of See also:Glasgow and the Glasgow Museum contain valuable collections. The museum of St See also:Andrews University is very rich in material illustrating marine See also:zoology, and so also are the collections of University College at See also:Dundee. The Science and Art Museum of See also:Dublin and the Public Museum of See also:Belfast, in addition to the works of art which they contain, possess scientific collections of importance. There are also in Great Britain and See also:Ireland some two See also:hundred smaller museums, in which there are collections which cannot be overlooked by specialists, more particularly by those interested in See also:geology, paleontology and archaeology. sent for, are delivered. If by any See also:Accident some of the Parties are prevented from coming, it is proper they send their See also:Ticket back to the Lodge, as nobody can be admitted with it but themselves. It is to be remarked that the fewer Names there are in a List, the sooner they are likely to be admitted to see it." The establishment of the British Museum was coincident in time with the development of the systematic study of nature, of which See also:Linnaeus was at that time the most distinguished exponent. The modern sciences, the wonderful triumphs of which have revolutionized the world, were just emerging from their infancy. Museums were speedily found to furnish the best agency for preserving the records of advancing knowledge, so far as these consisted of the materials upon which the investigator had laboured. In a See also:short time it became customary for the student, either during his lifetime or at his See also:death, to entrust to the permanent custody of museums the collections upon which he had based his studies and observations.

Museums were thenceforth rapidly multiplied, and came to be universally regarded as proper repositories for scientific collections of all kinds. But the use of museums as repositories of the collections of the learned came presently to be associated with their use as seats of original investigation and See also:

research. Collections of new and rare objects which had not yet received attentive study came into their See also:possession. Voyages of exploration into unknown lands, undertaken at public or private expense, added continually to their treasures. The comparison of newer collections with older collections which had been already made the subject of study, was undertaken. New truths were thus ascertained. A See also:body of students was attracted to the museums, who in a few years by their investigations began not only to add to the sum of human knowledge, but by their publications to See also:shed lustre upon the institutions with which they were connected. The spirit of inquiry was wisely fostered by private and public munificence, and museums as centres for the See also:diffusion of scientific truth came to hold a well-recognized position. Later still, about the middle of the rgth century, when the importance of popular education and the See also:necessity of popularizing knowledge came to be more thoroughly recognized than it had heretofore been, museums were found to be peculiarly adapted in certain respects for the promotion of the culture of the masses. They became under the new impulse not merely repositories of scientific records and seats of original research, but powerful educational agencies, in which by See also:object lessons the most important truths of science were capable of being pleasantly imparted to multitudes. The old narrow restrictions were thrown down. Their doors were freely opened to the See also:people, and at the beginning of the loth century the movement for the establishment of museums assumed a magnitude scarcely, if at all, less than the movement on behalf of the diffusion of popular knowledge through public See also:libraries.

While great national museums have been founded and all the large municipalities of the world through private or civic gifts have established museums within their limits, a multitude of lesser towns, and even in some cases villages, have established museums, and museums as adjuncts of See also:

universities, colleges and high See also:schools have come to be recognized as almost indispensable. The movement has assumed its greatest proportions in Great Britain and her colonies, See also:Germany, and the See also:United States of America, although in many other lands it has already advanced far. There are now in existence in the world, exclusive of museums of art, not less than 2000 scientific museums which possess in themselves elements of permanence, some of which are splendidly supported by public munificence, and a number of which have been richly endowed by private benefactions. Great Britain and Ireland.—The greatest museum in London is the British Museum. The natural history See also:department at South Kensington, with its wealth of types deposited there, constitutes the most important collection of the See also:kind in the world. The Museum of See also:Practical Geology in Jermyn See also:Street contains a beautiful and well-arranged collection of minerals and a very See also:complete See also:series of specimens illustrative of the See also:India.—The See also:Indian Museum, the Geological Museum of the Geological Survey of India, and the herbarium of the Royal Botanic Garden in See also:Calcutta, are richly endowed with collections illustrating the natural history of Hindostan and adjacent countries. The finest collection of the vertebrate fossils of the Siwalik Hills is that found in the Indian Museum. The See also:Victoria and Albert Museum in Bombay and the See also:Government Museum in See also:Madras are institutions of importance. See also:Australia.—The See also:Queensland Museum, and the museum of the Geological Survey of Queensland located in See also:Brisbane, and the National Museum at See also:Melbourne, Victoria, represent important beginnings. See also:Sydney, the See also:capital of New South See also:Wales, is the centre of considerable scientific activity. The museums connected with the university of Sydney, the museum of the Geological Survey of New South Wales, and the Australian Museum, all possess valuable collections. The museum at See also:Adelaide is noteworthy.

New See also:

Zealand.—Good collections are found in the Otago Museum, See also:Dunedin, the See also:Canterbury Museum at See also:Christ See also:Church, the See also:Auckland Museum at Auckland, and the Colonial Museum at See also:Wellington. South Africa: The South See also:African Museum at Capetown is a flourishing and important institution, which has done excellent work in the field of South African zoology. A museum has been established at See also:Durban, See also:Natal, which gives See also:evidence of vitality. See also:Egypt.—Archaeological studies overshadow all others in the See also:land of the See also:Nile, and the splendid collections of the great museum of antiquities at See also:Cairo find nothing to parallel them in the domain of the purely natural sciences. A geological museum was, however, established in the autumn of 1903, and in view of recent remarkable paleontological discoveries in Egypt possesses brilliant opportunities ethnographical and anthropological collections at See also:Budapest. The natural history collections of the Bohemian national museum at See also:Prague are well arranged, though not remarkably extensive. See also:Russia.—The Rumiantsof Museum in See also:Moscow possesses splendid buildings, with a library of over 700,000 volumes in addition to splendid artistic treasures, and is rich in natural history specimens. It is one of the most magnificent foundations of its kind in Europe. There are a number of magnificent museums in St Petersburg which contain stores of important material. Foremost among these is the museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, rich in collections illustrating the zoology, paleontology and See also:ethnology, not only of the See also:Russian See also:Empire, but also of See also:foreign lands. There are a number of provincial museums in the larger cities of Russia which are growing in importance. See also:Italy.—Italy is rich in museums of art, but natural history collections are not as strongly represented as in other lands.

Connected with the various universities are collections which possess more or less importance from the standpoint of the specialist. The Museo Civico di Storia Naturale at See also:

Genoa, and the collections preserved at the marine biological station at See also:Naples, have most interest for the zoologist. See also:Spain.—There are no natural history collections of first importance in Spain, though at all the universities there are See also:minor collections, which are in some instances creditably cared for and arranged. See also:Portugal.—The natural history museum at See also:Lisbon contains important ornithological treasures. Eastern See also:Asia.—The awakening of the empire of See also:Japan has resulted among other things in the cultivation of the modern sciences, and there are a number of scientific students, mostly trained in See also:European and See also:American universities, who are doing excellent work in the biological and allied sciences. Very creditable beginnings have been made in connexion with the Imperial University at Tokio for the establishment of a museum of natural history. At See also:Shanghai there is a collection, gathered by the See also:Chinese See also:branch of the Royal See also:Asiatic Society, which is in a decadent See also:state, but contains much good material. Otherwise as yet the movement to establish museums has not laid strong hold upon the inhabitants of eastern Asia. At See also:Batavia in See also:Java, and at See also:Manila in the Philippine Islands, there are found the nuclei of important collections. See also:Canada.—In connexion with the Universiti See also:Laval in See also:Quebec, the McGill University in See also:Montreal, and the university of See also:Toronto in "See also:Ontario, beginnings of significance have been made. The Peter Redpath Museum of McGill College contains important collections in all branches of natural history, more particularly See also:botany. The provincial museum at Victoria, British See also:Columbia, is growing in importance.

A movement has been begun to establish at See also:

Ottawa a museum which shall in a sense be for the Dominion a national establishment. France.—Paris abounds in institutions for the promotion of culture. In possession of many of the institutions of learning, such as the E°See also:cole Nationale Superieure des Mines, the Institut National Agronomique, and the various learned See also:societies, are collections of greater or less importance which must be consulted at times by specialists in the various sciences. The Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in the Jardin des Plantes is the most comprehensive and important collection of its kind in the See also:French See also:metropolis, and while not as rich in types as the British Museum, nevertheless contains a vast assemblage of classic specimens reflecting the labours of former generations of French naturalists. Unfortunately, much of the best material, consisting of the types of species obtained by the naturalists of French voyages of exploration, have been too See also:long exposed to the intense See also:light which fills the great building and have become bleached and faded to a great degree. The zeal to popularize knowledge by the display of specimens has conflicted with the purpose to preserve the records of science, a fact which French naturalists themselves universally admit. As in See also:England, so also in France, there are a number of virtuosi, who have amassed See also:fine private collections. One of the very largest and finest of all the entomological collections of the world is that at See also:Rennes, belonging to the See also:brothers Oberthiir, upon which they have expended princely sums. The Museum des Sciences Naturelles of See also:Lyons is in some respects an important institution. See also:Belgium.—See also:Brussels has been called " a See also:city of museums." The Musee du See also:Congo and the Musee Royal d'Histoire Naturelle du Belgique are the two most important institutions from the standpoint of the naturalist. The former is rich in ethnographic and zoological material brought from the Congo Free State, and the latter contains very important paleontological collections. See also:Holland.—The zoological museum of the Koninklijk Zoologisch Genootschap, affiliated with the university at Amsterdam, is well known.

The royal museums connected with the university of See also:

Leiden are centres of much scientific activity. See also:Denmark.—The National Museum at See also:Copenhagen is particularly rich in Scandinavian and Danish antiquities. See also:Sweden.—ln See also:Stockholm, the capital, the Nordiska Museet is devoted to Scandinavian ethnology, and the Naturhistoriska Riks-Museum is rich in paleontological, botanical and archaeological collections. Great scientific treasures are also contained in the museums connected with the university of See also:Upsala. See also:Norway.—Classic collections especially interesting to the student of marine zoology are contained in the university of See also:Christiania. Germany.--Germany is rich in museums, some of which are of very great importance. The Museum See also:file Naturkunde, the ethnographical museum, the anthropological museum, the mineralogical museum and the agricultural museum in See also:Berlin are See also:noble institutions, the first mentioned being particularly rich in classical collections. See also:Hamburg boasts an excellent natural history museum and ethnographical museum, the Museum Godeffroy and the Museum Umlauff. There are a number of important private collections in Hamburg. The municipal museum in See also:Bremen is important from the standpoint of the naturalist and ethnologist. The See also:Roemer Museum at See also:Hildesheim is one of the best provincial museums in Germany. Dresden even more justly than Brussels may be called " a city of museums," and the mineralogical, archaeological, zoological and anthropological museums are exceedingly important from the standpoint of the naturalist.

Here also in private hands is the greatest collection of palaearctic lepidoptcra in Europe, belonging to the heirs of Dr See also:

Otto Staudinger. The ethnographical museum at See also:Leipzig is rich in collections brought together from South and Central America. The natural history museum, t he anatomical museum and the ethnographical museum in See also:Munich are important institutions, the first mentioned being particularly rich in paleontological treasures. The natural history museum of See also:Stuttgart is likewise noted for its important paleontological collections. The Senckenbergische Naturforsc?:ende Gesellschaft museum at See also:Frankfort-on-the-See also:Main contains a very important collection of ethnographical, zoological and botanical material. The museum of the university at See also:Bonn, and more particularly the anatomical museum, are noteworthy. In connexion with almost all the German universities and in almost all the larger towns and cities are to be found museums, in many of which there are important assemblages illustrating not only the natural history of the immediate neighbourhood, but in a multitude of cases containing important material collected in foreign lands. One of the most interesting of the smaller museums lately established is that at See also:Lubeck, a See also:model in its way for a provincial museum. Austro-See also:Hungary.—The Imperial Natural HistoryMuseum inVienna is one of the noblest institutions of its kind in Europe, and possesses one of the finest mineralogical collections in the world. It is rich also in botanical and conchological collections. There are important United States.—The movement to establish museums in the United States is comparatively recent. One of the very earliest collections (18os), which, however, was soon dispersed, was made by Charles Willson See also:Peale ,(q.v.).

The Academy of Natural Sciences in See also:

Philadelphia, established in 1812, is the See also:oldest society for the promotion of the natural sciences in the United States. It possesses a very important library and some most excellent collections, and is rich in ornithological, conchological and botanical types. The city of Philadelphia also points with See also:pride to the free museum of archaeology connected with the university of See also:Pennsylvania, and- to the Philadelphia museums, the latter museums of See also:commerce, but which incidentally do much to See also:pro-mote scientific knowledge, especially in the domain of ethnology, botany and mineralogy. The Wistar See also:Institute of Anatomy is well endowed and organized. The zoological museum at Harvard University, Cambridge, See also:Massachusetts, is associated with the names of See also:Louis and Alexander See also:Agassiz, the former of whom by his learning and activity as a See also:collector, and the latter by his munificent gifts, as well as by his important researches, not only created the institution, but made it a potent agency for the See also:advancement of science. The See also:Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, likewise connected with Harvard University, is one of the greatest institutions of its kind in the New World. The See also:Essex Institute at See also:Salem, Massachusetts, is noteworthy. The See also:Butterfield Museum, See also:Dartmouth College, See also:Hanover, New See also:Hampshire, and the See also:Fairbanks Museum of Natural Science (1891) at St Johnsbury, See also:Vermont, are important modern institutions. In . the museum of See also:Amherst College are preserved the types of the birds described by J. J. See also:Audubon, the shells described by C. B.

See also:

Adams, the mineralogical collections of Charles Upham Shepard, and the paleontological collections of See also:President See also:Hitchcock. In See also:Springfield (1898) and See also:Worcester, Massachusetts, there are excellent museums. The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University, New Haven, See also:Connecticut, contains much of the paleontological material described by Professor O. C. See also:Marsh. The New See also:York State Museum at See also:Albany is important from a geological and paleontological standpoint.

End of Article: MUSEUMS OF SCIENCE

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