Abstracts
Abstract
Thomas McCulloch, Presbyterian minister and educator, founder of Pictou Academy, first President of Dalhousie College 1838-1843, established a museum in Pictou, NS, by 1828, including a bird collection. To McCulloch, the order of the natural world instilled in students principles of a liberal education and a model of society. His first collections were sold, but when McCulloch came to Dalhousie in 1838 he started a new collection, hoping to make it the basis of a provincial museum. In this he was aided by his son Thomas, who had been trained as a taxidermist. The younger McCulloch kept and expanded the collection until his death, after which it passed to Dalhousie College. The current McCulloch Collection, mainly the work of Thomas McCulloch junior, seems to exemplify purposes and practices of 19th century natural history. But research shows that the collection has a hybrid origin and must be viewed with great caution as an historical artifact. This is a case study in the difficulty of interpreting 19th century natural history collections without careful examination of their history.
Résumé
Thomas McCulloch, ministre de l’Église presbyterienne et enseignant, fondateur de l’école Pictou Academy, premier président du collège Dalhousie 1838-1843, a établi un musée à Pictou (Nouvelle-Écosse) avant 1828, incluant une collection d’oiseaux. De l’avis de M. McCulloch, l’organisation de la nature inculque chez les élèves les principes d’une éducation libérale et un modèle de société. Ses premières collections ont été vendues, mais lorsque M. McCulloch est arrivé à Dalhousie en 1838, il en a commencé une nouvelle, souhaitant faire d’elle le point de départ d’un musée provincial. Son fils Thomas, taxidermiste qualifié, l’a aidé dans ce sens. La collection a été conservée et élargie par le jeune McCulloch jusqu’à son décès, puis est passée au collège Dalhousie. La collection McCulloch actuelle, en majeure partie l’oeuvre de Thomas McCulloch junior, semble illustrer les objectifs et les pratiques de l’étude de l’histoire naturelle au 19e siècle. La recherche révèle cependant que la collection est d’origine hybride et doit être examinée avec prudence à titre d’artefact historique. L’article qui suit est une étude de la difficulté à interpréter les collections d’histoire naturelle du 19e siècle sans en examiner aussi leur histoire avec soin.
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Appendices
Acknowledgements
Much of the research in this paper is based on work in the Dalhousie University Archives (DUA) and the Nova Scotia Archives (NSA). Karen Smith, Dalhousie University Special Collections Librarian, provided information and an enthusiasm for this project for which I am especially grateful. Andrew Hebda of the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History was an unending source of information on 19th century collections in the province. I also thank Elwin Hemphill of Pictou, NS, Ken McKenna of Stellarton, NS, the staff of the McCulloch Heritage Centre, Pictou, NS, and Anne Mills for their contributions to this study. Martine Dufresne kindly prepared the résumé. The quotation in the title, referring to the first McCulloch collection, comes from William McCulloch, Life of Thomas McCulloch, D.D. Pictou (Truro, NS : privately printed, 1920), 145.
Biographical note
Eric L. Mills is Professor Emeritus of History of Science in the Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University and Inglis Professor, University of King’s College, Halifax, Canada. His research deals with 19th century natural history and development of 19th and 20th century biological and physical oceanography.