REPRESENTED IN THE EPPING FOREST MUSEUM. 5
been educated ever so little against his will. It may occur to
some of you how far the Museum may become educational, either
as a whole, or in parts, even as the National Natural History
Museum is becoming more educational every year by matter-of-
fact illustrations of the life history of our native birds. Take an
entomological illustration as an example. Let us suppose our
visitors are attracted to a group by the sight of a very large
caterpillar, and they draw near for closer inspection. "Lors,
there's a big hole in that chunk o' wood, and the head of one of
them creepy things looking out." "No ! yer fool, he's creeping
in!" "Does he live in there ?" "In course he does." Let's
read what it says. "This is the caterpillar, or grub of the
Cossus moth." "Crikey, 'Arry, it's rum grub !" "Go on !
Well! 'he bores into the trees and lives there three years, and
eats all the time, till he kills the tree ! And then he changes into
a 'pup ?' "No, stupid! that's not 'pup,' it's pupa, like one
lying beside it, and it has no legs, and no mouth, and eats
nothing, but rests till the time comes to break it's shell, and come
out a 'blooming' moth. There he is, 'Arriet, what a wopper
for a clothes' moth ! Let's see what it does after that. It lays
more than a hundred eggs, and then dies. Sarve's 'im right, but
that ain't all, for the ticket says as how the Old Romans, a
thousand years ago, used to fatten these grubs, and cook 'em for
lunch.' "And is that all ! It might be, but it is probable that
an incident of this kind would cause the couple in question to
look more closely at other exhibits, and send them out thinking,
or at least having learnt something, which would form a topic
for conversation when the holiday is over.
Returning to our Fungi, it may be asked of us, what more is
wanting that could be readily obtained ; and I would suggest
that there are large Woody Fungi of the genera Fomes, Doedalea,
and Trametes, which do not shrink, change colour, or decay, and
after soaking in a solution of corrosive sublimate might decorate
the Museum for many a year.
Not only for exhibition, but for reference, and as vouchers
for the Forest Flora, there are a vast number of species which
could be represented by careful drying, and mounting, as
specimens are mounted for a Herbarium, and preserved in cases
or boxes for consultation.
Whatever may be the fundamental principles which guided
the promoters of this Museum, it may be taken for granted that
they recognise its dual character. That they have proposed, in the