A Modern Public Museum

A modern public museum should supply the needs or wishes of the community which supports it, and not the whims of a few individuals with pet hobbies. The different sections of a museum should be segregated, and the specimens of each section classified and displayed for some definite educational purpose.

One of the urgent needs of our city at the present time, is a place for teachers and scholars to visit in order to supplement and make more intelligible, nature study work in schools. Most of our teachers are from the east, where the insects, birds, flowers, and trees are on the whole different from those on this side of the Rocky Mountains. A named collection of the more common representatives of our native fauna and flora would be of great value not only to the people of our own City, but to visitors from other towns. If British Columbia was a barren unproductive Province we might have some reason for keeping our natural history exhibits in the back-ground, but seeing we possess such a variety of land and water species, they would supply the best kind of advertisement to show visitors our natural resources.

Vancouver is the largest city in B.C., has the largest population, and there seems to be no valid reason why we should not have the best collections in existence to illustrate the Natural History of British Columbia, including the natural history of man in this Province. We have many Indian tribes within our boundaries, each with their own peculiarities in design of implements and apparel, some more primitive than others, different plants and animals are used in the manufacture of these, and as many of the best specimens of Indian work have already been shipped to Museums outside the Province, even outside of Canada, something should be done to secure some of the remaining specimens to illustrate the life story of our native races.