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appreciative of what museums have to offer. For a country with a population of 13 million odd and an area of 128,000 square kilometres this is indeed a rich collcc-tion. Of thc total number of items, only 373,500 are registered in collections of art museums, but this is, of course, only a tiny fraction of the total, the remainder being included in the catalogues of other museums, especially the homeland museums.²

Administratively, Czechoslovak museums fali into two categories: those coming under the central administration and those administered by the local or regional authorities. The large national museums in the first category include, for example: the National Museum, Prague (fig. /, z); the National Gallery, Prague; the Slovak Museum, Bratislava; the Slovak National Museum, Martin; the Czechoslovak Army Museum, Prague; the Technical Museum, Kosice; thc Agricultural Museum, Prague; and the Moravian Museum at Brno. Many of them arc long-established institutions which maintain permanent contact with scientific institutes abroad. Their work is the same as that of al1 similar establishments throughout the world: to conduct research in their particular fields and collect materiał exemplifying the evolution of naturę, the development of society and the creative work of man. The materiał acquired is handlcd by experts and is scientifically studied, identified and treated.

The research staff employed by the museums is also used by thc State to prospect for and cxtract new sources of raw materials (for exampie, Fcrdinand Prantl, Chair-man of the National Committee of icom in Czechoslovakia, has bcen awarded a State prize for the study of an important geological region). The museums directly promote the deyelopment of production by collecting and displaying examples of national and foreign art, whethcr handicrafts or industrial products, and effectively assist agriculture in its task of pest control. Their archaeological research, conducted in concert with the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, throws fresh light on the rich history and culture of the peoples of the country. The museums have also solved many problems in the field of numismatics and ethnography.

Despite space difficulties, the national museums are doing their best to familiarize the public with their work—mainly through permanent dispłays. Only now, in fact, has the task assigned to our museums over a century ago by the protagonists of Czechoslovak national culture been consistently carried out in practice.

Permanent exhibitions have been organized by the Museum of National Literaturę, the Klement Gottwald Museum, the Czechoslovak Army Museum, the National Gallery, the V. 1. Lenin Museum, the Agricultural Museum at Prague, the Silesian Museum at Opava (fig. j), etc.

In the other museums, only part of the dispłays have been arranged in accordance with the new method. For example, the Slovak National Museum at Bratislava has installcd an archaeological section; the National Museum at Prague, one on pre-history and thc Hussite movemcnt; and the Moravian Museum at Brno (fig. /), one on prehistory, ethnology, etc.

ó, 7. Krajsice Museum v Liberci. Lc jardin botaniąuc du Musee regional dc Libcrec. Piece d’cau avec victoria regia et plantes tropicales, quc les specialistes du musće ont rćussi a cultivcr sur lc 5 i^e parallelc. La region dc Libcrec compte 23 musćcs dc terroir. La plupart d’cntre eux reinstallcnt actuellcmcnt des collccrions suivant des principcs nouveaux. En 1958, des exposi-tions reamćnagćcs seront ouvertcs au public.

6_% 7. Botanical gardens of thc Libcrec Regional Museum: an ornamcntal pool, with giant Victoria regia water lilics, and tropical plants which the Muscum’s specialists havc succecdcd in cultivating on thc 5 tst parallei. The Libcrec region has 23 homeland museums most of which arc now rcorganizing the presentation of their collections in accordance with modern principles. A number of newly installcd cxhibi-tions are to be presented to thc public in 1958.

1. The articlcs published in Museum, ovcr rcccnt ycars, on cxhibitions in Czcchoslovak museums—those on cxhibitions of prehistory, by Mr. Jiri Neustupny, on exhibitions of applied art, by Mr. E. Pochc, or on cxhibi-tions in homeland museums—resultcd in the supply, to Museum’s editorial Office, of interest-ing materiał regarding the activitics of scvcral museums in Czechoslovakia. The Board of Editors accordingly planned, in 1956, to publish a generał study madc up of artides which wcrc to be rcquestcd from museum curators themsclvcs. The occasion was to be the announcemcnt, for Junc-October 1957, of the exhibition Ancient Art in C^echoslorakia at the Paris Musće des Arts Decoratifs. At thc invitation of the Governmcnt of thc Czccho-slorak Republic, Mr. Gcorges Hcnri Rivićre, Director of the International Council of Museums, paid a visit of study to Czccho-slovakia in May 1957. The project was thcrc discussed, and finally adopted, at a mccting attended by thc members of thc Czcchoslovak National Commission for Unesco and those of thc icom National Committee. The present spccial number is the result.    Ed.

z. Vlastivedne Museum (Hcimatkundę Mu-scum), sec “Homeland Museums”, page 133.

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