In the past weeks we have delved into what museums should and should not be,
and bemoaned the lack of funds and manpower necessary to keep a museum
running. In the spirit of "things could be worse," I offer a quote from
Vendryes (1899). He is referring to the disposition of Chitty's collection
in Jamaica. Chitty, a judge and collector, was working on a monograph of the
Jamaican mollusks with C.B. Adams. But after Adams died of yellow fever
while on a collecting trip to St. Thomas, Chitty never completed the
monograph. Chitty moved to London, leaving his collection behind. And so...
 
"...the collection was accorded a temporary place of refuge, free of rent,
in a store room at the wharf of the Royal Mail Company. It may be added that
the removel, for the want of money to pay expenses, was made by a gang of
men drafted from among the quieter patients of the Lunatic Asylum at Rae Town."
 
I understand they still do this at some museums...
 
Vendryes, H. 1899. Systematic catalogue of the land and fresh-water shells
of Jamaica. Journal of the Institute of Jamaica 2(6): 590-607.
 
*  G Thomas Watters               *
*  Ohio Biological Survey &       *
*  Aquatic Ecology Laboratory     *
*  Ohio State University          *
*  1315 Kinnear Rd.               *
*  Columbus, OH 43212 USA         *
*  v:614-292-6170 f:614-292-0181  *
 
"The world is my oyster, except for months with an "R" in them" - Firesign
Theater
"A paranoid is a man who knows a little of what's going on" - William Burroughs