Neither was he less particular in regard to labels describing the exhibits. In the address already referred to, he had written that “above all, the purpose for which each specimen is exhibited, and the main lesson to be derived from it, must be distinctly indicated by the labels affixed, both as headings of the various divisions of the series and to the individual specimens. A well-arranged educational museum has been defined as a collection of instructive labels, illustrated by well-selected specimens.” Most, if not all, of the descriptive labels in the vertebrate series of the Index Museum were written by the hand of the Director himself, while all came under his personal supervision before being placed in the museum. Labels of a descriptive nature had hitherto been mainly, if not entirely, conspicuous by their absence on the zoological side of the museum; and for some time the Index series alone afforded an example of the nature of the Director’s views on this all-important subject. Nor was this all; for in addition to these descriptive labels, other and larger labels were affixed in the cases, bearing the names of the various “classes,” “orders,” and “families,” to which the specimens respectively pertained; the limits of the space occupied by each group being indicated by black laths, varying in width according to the grade of the group they demarcated. By this means systematic divisions were clearly indicated; and on no consideration would Flower permit of any single specimen being placed elsewhere than in its proper systematic position. Another innovation—so far at anyrate as the zoological side of the museum was concerned—was the placing of small maps alongside each specimen or each group, to illustrate, by means of colour, the geographical distribution of the species or group. As regards the function of the Index Museum, it may be admitted that instead of, as originally intended, serving as an elementary guide in natural history to the uninstructed public, this exhibit is more generally used by serious zoological students, of whom numbers may from time to time be seen, book in hand, and sometimes under the guidance of a teacher, intently poring over the contents of the cases. Such a use—although not perhaps the prime object of a national museum—is, however, at least as important as catering to the requirements of the ordinary visitor.