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III.—ON THE AIMS AND USES OF PROVINCIAL
MUSEUMS, AND THEIR RELATION TO
PROVINCIAL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.1
By Professor JAMES W. H. TRAIL, A.M., M.D., F.L.S.
IT may be thought and said by some that the uses of provincial
scientific societies and museums are so fully recognised that there
is more risk of over- than of under-estimating their importance in the
advancement of scientific pursuits among us ; but this belief cannot
be entertained seriously by any one who has realised how far the
efforts of the most successful have been from the attainment of an
ideal of even a moderate kind. Very few societies set steadily before
them a definite aim ; and in almost all published "Transactions," the
titles show that the range of subjects discussed is so wide as to be
very unlikely to leave permanent results of value towards fulfilling
the objects that should be aimed at by provincial societies.2 It is
true that in large societies, such as the Royal Societies of London
and other metropolitan cities, the range of topics must be wide,
because in them all departments of science are represented, without
reference to the special places of meeting; and it may be urged that
provincial societies represent similar needs, and should consider
similar subjects, only restricted, to some extent, by circumstances.
In support of this position a good deal might be said; but it must
be evident to all that consider the matter fairly that in fact the cir-
cumstances are very different for metropolitan and for provincial
societies. Discoveries and theories of a comprehensive and far-
reaching kind, and that are independent of locality, naturally are
presented to the large metropolitan audiences, and are published in
"Transactions," in which they can receive adequate illustration and
treatment. On the other hand, these large societies are not suited
for the consideration of topics such as naturally should occupy much
of the attention and labour of provincial meetings. The former
cannot with advantage study the fauna, flora, geology, or antiquities
of any limited area of country ; while it is by means of such labours
1 This paper is reprinted, by Prof. Trail's kind permission, from the "Scottish Naturalist"
for October, 1885.—Ed.
2 It may be justly claimed for the publications of the Essex Field Club that they have been, from
the very beginning, devoted to local matters, and even when general subjects have been admitted,
such papers have almost always had a definite bearing on questions of Essex natural history,
geology, or archaeology.— Ed.