The Wagner Free Institute of Science

William Wagner founded the Free Institute Of Science in the 1850's based on his belief that  the knowledge of science should be available to anyone, man or woman.  The building we visited was constructed by 1865.  When I first entered the Wagner, I was impressed by its size and amount of cabinets and cases.  The museum was set up in a style similar with the curiosity cabinet but much more organized.  The collection was organized by Darwinian standards, and organisms of like taxonomy shared the same cases.  I was amazed at the amount of taxidermy the museum had in its collection.  Not only was the taxidermy well preserved but the collection was of organisms from all over the world. 
I think that the Wagner was a good example of how museums began to shift away from the curiosity cabinet and begin to be set up like most modern day museums.  In that regard it was beneficial to actually see the changes first hand that we had been discussing in class.  It also showed some examples of a museums attempts of showing its power.  For example, the little hand written tags for each piece at  the museum had Latin and English words.  Few people know Latin and it helps to create a feeling that the people running the museum know more than the visitor.