Museum

an institution for the collection, study, classification, preservation, and exhibition of objects of interest. The word is derived from the Muses. It meant originally a grove or other locality sacred to the Muses; later it meant an institution of study and research. The Museum of Alexandria was an institution of this sort. The present day term retains somewhat of former meanings in that a museum offers facilities for research. Doubtless museums in the modern use of the word grew up in connection with institutions of learning. Collections of curious books are included in most libraries. Collections of paintings and statuary are known frequently as art galleries. Europe is the country of museums. If we except Turkey, every European nation, city, and university has its collection. Paris has over thirty museums; Berlin, twenty; Vienna, fifteen. London has a number of notable collections. Local museums are more general in Great Britain than elsewhere. Some account of the various collections may be found in the articles on the chief cities and buildings of Europe.

There are between 300 and 400 collections in the United States. These, with collections in the Latin American states and Canada, contain a vast amount of American material; yet it is a source of never-ending regret that the contributors to earlier museums did not realize the priceless value of Indian relics now impossible to obtain. There are collections of greater or less importance in connection with each American college and university. Those of Yale, Princeton, Amherst, Leland Stanford, and California University are rich in fossils.

Several states, notably New York and Ohio, have made valuable collections. Philadelphia Academy of Natural Science and Boston Society of Natural History have large and valuable collections, especially of birds. Among American museums of importance are: