Page:Notes on the Present and Future of the Archaeological Collections of the University of Oxford.djvu/14

 the Ashmolean is the action of the University authorities, who for the sake of holding occasional examinations of undergraduates have during the building of the new Schools, for years past, confiscated the upper room. Some one might surely have remembered that, after all, education and instruction are better than examination, and that some of these young men might he better fitted for their examination itself if objects illustrative of History and Archæology were presented to their view in an intelligible manner. But, if the state of the Ashmolean Museum in its principal room is bad, what can be said of the vaulted room underneath, which contains a fine Collection of Roman lamps and other terracottas, and the really important sculptures and inscriptions of the Arundelian Marbles? In visiting this apartment a few days since I found access to some of the best Greek inscriptions barred by the presence of an immense stuffed Bullock. The body and legs of this truculent-looking beast are cased in matting, but his head and horns stick out in a threatening manner, and this obscene quadruped seems to be sniffing defiance at every would-be student of Greek Archæology. On inquiring the reason of the presence of this unlooked for apparition, I was officially informed that it was placed there "at the request of Professor Williams!" Approach to other antiquities I found to be prevented by cases containing specimens of curry-powder, castor-oil, and fennel seeds, and other vegetable productions, which would certainly seem to be more appropriate to the Museum of Natural History. There, however, the space is required for bronze celts, "Samian" ware, and Anglo-Saxon pottery! The castor-oil beans, I learned, like the Bullock, were also placed amongst the Greek Antiquities, "at the request of Professor Williams" and unless an earthquake or