Initially the Society only employed an attendant and cleaner and relied on Honorary Curators in their various interests to care for and display the collections. This caused some difficulties. In 1889 the committee allowed a newly appointed attendant , an artist, to do his art work ‘if he have leisure after duly and properly attending to the necessary work of the place’.
The museum's collection grew from gifts and donations of various kinds from local supporters. Members of the Society also actively collected specimens through fieldwork. One notable addition was an ancient Egyptian Mummy, donated in 1850 and publicly unwrapped for curiosity. Something which would not happen today.
| Phrenology claims to be able to determine character, personality traits, and criminality by the shape of the head. It was developed by a German physician, Franz J. Gall at the beginning of the 19th century, and became very popular. It has been dismissed as a pseudoscience.
Committee reports showed that the Society was very popular from the outset. They also showed how the Society struggled to keep up with the costs of maintenance and increasing need for new display cases.
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