12 



which is a work of great importance in an Institution 

 like our own, as a record of the discoveries in that 

 science. 



On former occasions it has been the gratifying 

 task of the Council to allude to the great interest 

 evinced to view the contents of the Museum, by the 

 operative portion of the community especially. This 

 continues to increase ; on the last Easter Monday and 

 Tuesday, 1,700 persons were admitted. During the 

 past year the visiter's book gives the number of regis- 

 tered names as 9,471, which does not include all, as 

 the word "party" is frequently used without expressing 

 the actual number. Now when it is considered that 

 so large a proportion of our townspeople are thus 

 annually admitted gratuitously, it is sufficient proof of 

 the value of such an Institution, and the claims it has 

 upon the town at large for support ; for it is not too 

 much to hope, that in addition to the mere visual 

 gratification that all derive, some of a more ennobling 

 and lasting nature will be imbibed by others, which 

 may, eventually, ripen into a rich harvest of intellectual 

 enjoyment, and supply a fund of information which can 

 be drawn upon at a future period ; for, as Sir John 

 Herschell has well remarked, "It is not one of the 

 least advantages of these pursuits, that they are alto- 

 gether independent of external circumstances, and may 

 be enjoyed in every situation in which a man can be 

 placed in life." 



