532 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1903. 



level with the gallery of the front half, and consists of a hall (natural- 

 history collections) with a skylight, about 108 by 60 feet and 42 feet 

 high, with galleries about it (insects, minerals). 



"The main portion of the ethnographical collection is arranged by 

 classes, as in the museum at Oxford (see p. 533). The cases are of 

 mahogany, and also black, with panes of plate glass, 8 feet high, -iO 

 inches broad, and 1 foot 7 inches deep, with sea-green background, 

 and similar shelves, which show up the contents very distinctly. The 

 labels are printed in black letters on a white ground pasted on a red- 

 bordered card. Nearly every specimen has a label. The exhibit is 

 very clean, intelligible, and elegant. The entire museum can be lighted 

 by electricity, a portion of the lights being supported by brass mount- 

 ings in the modern pendant style. In the dark adjoining room are 

 placed apparently such parts of the ethnographical section as could 

 not find place in the main hall without injuring its fine general effect, 

 or whatever was unsuitable for exhibiting. This room represents 

 the storehouse of the exhibition series. Eastern Asia and India are 

 especially well represented, but there is also a fine Benin collection 

 (see Seventh Annual Report, 1897, pp. 18, 19, Plates ii-v), as also some 

 things from New Zealand. 



"In the zoological collection there are three fine animal groups, 

 the elk, the walrus, and the polar bear." 



BRITISH FIRE-PREVENTION COMMITTEE. 



I should not omit mentioning an institution, praiseworth}' and of 

 unusual importance to museums, namely, the British fire-prevention 

 committee, Avhich has issued publications since 1898. These may be 

 obtained at the oftices of the committee (No. 1 Waterloo place. Pall 

 Mall, London). The contents of the volumes bear upon the com- 

 prehensive functions and purposes of the society, as may be wit- 

 nessed by a few of the titles here given: I (ten articles with many 

 illustrations, 1898, $2). Fire-resisting fioors used in London; Lessons 

 from fire and panic; How to build fireproof structures. II (ten arti- 

 cles with many illustrations, 1900, $5). Fire tests with unprotected 

 columns; Fire tests with floors; Fire tests with ceilings. Ill (ten arti- 

 cles with many illustrations, 1900, $5). Fire tests with doors; Fire 

 tests with partitions; Fire tests with glass." The chairman of the 

 committee and the publisher of its reports is Architect E. O. Sachs, 

 London. 



It will be seen that I have treated in the above pages only a small 

 portion of the London collections, and that portion only in the most 

 cursory manner. 



« There appeared also in 1902 two volumes, with 219 and 226 pages and very many 

 plates, under the title Facts on Fire Prevention: The results of fire tests oonduL-ted 

 hy the British fire-i)revention committee. Edited by Edwin O. Sachs, architect, 

 London. B. T. Batsford, 94 High Holborn. 



