ABSTRACT
The use of Museums, as a means of conveying valuable practical information to the masses of the public, has only of late years been perceived by the British people; and it is only recently that the British Government has imitated the course pursued by the rulers of all the civilized states of Europe and America, and established Government Museums of Practical and Applied Science in the three Kingdoms. I Very many of even the better informed c1asses c1ing to the old notion of a Museum being, at best, a place merely for innocent amusement of schoolboys and idlers ... In fact, the more incomprehensible the objects, the better, in the estimation of the lovers of these old-fashioned 'raree shows'; and it is only within the last few years that our countrymen are beginning to fmd out that, under proper direction, and as managed in modem times, Museums become the most ready and effectual means of communicating the knowledge and practical experience of the experienced few, to the many who, under less favourable circumstances, are engaged in, or mean to enter upon, those useful pursuits of life which depend more or less directly upon a knowledge ofthe peculiarities ofthe raw materials which Nature fumishes to uso
It has been suggested to me that, as some of even our scientific fellow-colonists held these old notions, a few observations on modem Museums in general, and suggestions for the formation of such as would be useful to the people of this colony, might prove acceptable; and I have accordingly put the few following notes together, placing them under separate heads, 'for convenience of reference.
