Drumlanrig Castle and the Douglases

368 EARLY HISTORY OF MORTON.
names j though this is restricted to the first visit, up to
September, 1875, the number of names entered is nearly
four thousand. Some curious statistics might be made
out as to the classes or condition to which the visitors
have belonged, there being a preponderance of certain
classes, and a comparative absence of others; but it would
be invidious to particularize, as many who have not yet
indicated an interest in the museum may yet come to
do so.
Considering the small amount of attention given by
the bulk of the people, and the small amount of science
that is among them, the success of this institution has
been beyond expectation, and we trust it will prove a
means of raising the mental standard of the people. A
society in connection with the museum, which is named
the Society of Inquiry, has been well attended by young
men in the district, and has been productive of the best
results, stimulating inquiry, and giving the minds of the
young a bent towards intellectual pursuits. The special
feature of this society is original observation. Its first
meeting was in September, 1872, and its meetings, which
are monthly in the museum, have been continued with
little or no intermission up to the present time.
The following document was deposited in the memo-
rial stone when the foundation of the building was laid :
— *' Unto them who shall live in the ages of the future,
and into whose hands this writing may come, know that
the building in which this is deposited was erected with
the view of being an auxiliary to education, and to pro-
mote in the minds of the people a taste for intellectual
pursuits — one of the means for that end being a museum
of the works of nature and art. The building was
erected by Thomas Boyle Grierson, from money saved by