History of museums : an essay, read to the Ashmolean Society, Feb. 12, 1830.

  • Duncan, Philip Bury, 1772-1863.
Date:
[1830]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: History of museums : an essay, read to the Ashmolean Society, Feb. 12, 1830. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    “ the view of natural phenomena with the convic- “ tion that they are the media of divine manifesta- “ tion; and by such association to give proper dig- “ nity to every branch of natm*al science. “ The second division exhibits relics of antiquity, “ arranged according to the order of time, with “ some specimens of curious art of uncivilized as “ well as of refined nations. “ In the exhibition of animals the order of Cuvier “ has been generally adopted. The name of every “ specimen is conspicuously affixed, and hand-cata- “ logues explain the general principle of the ar- “ rangement, and the contents of each cabinet to “ which they refer. “ It may be remarked that the quantity of objects “ is less numerous and less splendid than that “ which may be found in many other towns of less “ note than Oxford; but it ought to be noticed that, “ for the purpose of suggesting the important con- “ elusion which alone can sanctify the pursuit of “ any branch of knowledge, the multitude and even “ the elegance, of specimens, is of secondary import- “ ance, the primary being a display of those won- “ derful and strongly marked diversities of organiz- “ ation by which the wise Author of nature has “ adapted various means to various ends; various “ parts to various purposes; various machinery to “ diversity of actions: to differences in the destina- “ tions of instinct to differences of elements.” After the brief account submitted relating to the establishment of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, it may not be out of place to offer a few remarks