The first director William Henry Flower recognized the need to address the display of this vast quantity and diverse range of material:
Sir William Flower Director: 1884-1898	“The first great principle upon which Sir William Flower insisted was that the possessions of a great museum of natural history must be divided into two distinct parts - to be separately dealt with in all respects - viz. the public or show collection, and the special or study-collection, not exhibited to the general public, but readily accessible to all investigators and specially qualified persons.....In this way the public galleries would (he showed) be cleared of the excess of specimens...” 3
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