Dear Kim;-
    You got right! Museums DO hide the most interesting things out of
public sight. The excuse may vary. The public wouldn't understand. We
don't want to encourage people to collect shells and thus cause their
extinction (That one in Ohio, fer criminy sakes).
   I wonder if museums understand that the public would not only
appreciate seeing but could likely help in the presentation. How many
shell clubs are out of business because they have nothing to do and
are tired of the films and lectures. Whatever a museum has can be
shown---and displayed---and explained by those "gifted" amatuers who
have no letters after their names, but years of experience with an
equal desire to share that experience.
     I think that in the last days of Earth, there may well be a
museum that houses a collection of abandoned museums.
       Art