18 ON NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUMS.
A part only of the Gallery of the museum is at present given
up to the natural history collections, but as these are rapidly
increasing it is hoped that additional space may be secured in
this section of the building, where the illumination by means of a
direct top-light is well adapted for the display of objects requiring
close inspection. The Botanical collection is located in the gallery.
During the season fresh cut flowers are here exhibited week by
week, as at the Forest Museum ; and the visitor is introduced to
them by means of tablets adorned with charming little coloured
sketches by Mr. Henry Cole. Here, too, are the Mineralogical
and Petrological collections in course of arrangement by the skilful
hands of Mr. Thomas W. Reader; and here, likewise, is the
collection of Fossils—a collection containing many choice speci-
mens, due chiefly to the generosity of Dr. Horace T. Brown,
Mr. W. H. Dalton, and Mr. Carvalho. As an introduction to
this section of the museum there is a most instructive series of
specimens illustrating the phenomena of fossilization, and intended
to answer the question which is asked by a bold tablet at the
head of the case : "What is a fossil ?"
In dealing with fossils a Curator is at once faced with the
vexed question whether they should be arranged independently
as a Palaeontological collection, or be associated with the zoo-
logical and botanical specimens as one series—the extinct and
the extant forms taking their place in juxtaposition. A fossil
may in fact be viewed in two aspects : as a "medal of creation"
it has an obverse and a reverse. The biologist looks at one side,
the geologist at the other. To the biologist the fossil is a link
in the chain of life, connected with other links on its two sides—
a unit in a long organic concatenation related to certain
antecedents and to certain successors. But the geologist, whilst
fully appreciating this philosophical aspect, views the fossil as
an index to a certain set of strata, as a representative of life at a
particular period of the earth's history.
After all, this question, whether a Curator should arrange his
fossils on the biological or on the geological system, seems rather
like the old question, "Whether the tailor should make coats or
trousers." To which the very obvious retort was, "Why not
make both ?" If the museum is extensive enough, there can
surely be no valid reason why the two systems should not be
followed. The Curator, realizing this, will do his best to satisfy
at once the student of Life and the student of Time.