BRITISH MUSEUM. 213 



need not interfere any further than to suggest that their trusteeships 

 should not be extended beyond the property which introduced them 

 to the council. Here are thirteen elected Trustees, noblemen and 

 other members of the aristocracy, elected by the rest of the body 

 elected generally with little reference to any thing beyond Parlia- 

 mentary influence, or family distinction. Indeed out of the whole 

 council it would be difficult to find an individual who, on the score of 

 his scientific attainments only, would have gained a seat in the 

 managing committee. This must be reformed ere any great im- 

 provement can take place in the management. There must be 

 members of the council and officers of the house united in the same 

 managing body, a large proportion of them holding an exalted 

 station in the world of science ; or else the Trustees must content 

 themselves with a financial province, and leave the rest to the officers 

 who henceforward shall be chosen (and paid accordingly) from 

 among the most scientific men of the day, without interest or dis- 

 tinction of party. 



The division of the departments is another subject of complaint. 

 There are at present only four departments, which, considering the 

 great accessions to the Museum the number of specimens being 

 now multiplied at least fifty times since the year 1807 are quite in- 

 sufficient for their proper arrangement. There should be at least 

 sixteen departments, over each of which a competent officer should 

 be placed, who should be held responsible for the preservation and 

 proper arrangement of his work. We enumerate, 1. Geology and 

 Mineralogy 2. Botany 3. Entomology and Conchology 4. Fishes 

 and Reptiles 5. Ornithology 6. Mammalia, with a subdivision 

 for Comparative Anatomy, making altogether six departments for 

 Natural History instead of one four departments of the Antiquities 

 (1. Egyptian and Oriental Antiquities. 2. Greek and Roman ditto. 

 3. British ditto) one department for the Fine Arts one for 

 Ethnography, a subject totally distinct from antiquities one for the 

 Arts and Manufactures of Great Britain and three connected with 

 the Library: 1. Manuscripts 2. Printed Books 3. Maps, Charts, 

 &c. &c.. 



A highly important part of the enquiry before parliament has been 

 the formation of the catalogues. As respects the cataloguing of the^ 

 natural history and antiquities, we know of none that are accessible 

 beyond the Synopsis sold at the doors, which is quite insufficient for 



