582 REl>ORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1903. 



Collection of "Weapons, etc., chiefly from the South Sea Islands. 8vo, 1895, 16, 

 (52 pp. 



Two Lectures on the Art of Lace Making,', by A. 8." Cole. 8vo, 1884, 20 i)p. (2i 

 pence.) 



List of some books in the National Lil)rary of Ireland or in the Library of the 

 Museum which may be useful to visitors to the Museum. Natural History Collec- 

 tions: Zoology, Geology, and Mineralogy. 8vo, 1900, 16 pp. (1 penny.) 



Ill the wintor of 1900-11>01, '■2'2 five lectures were delivered by 14 

 diti'erent gentlemen, admission by card, winch were attended by 755 

 persons, a comparatively small number. 



The director of the entire museum is G. T. Plunkett, who is also 

 director of the Royal College of Science, the Metropolitan School of 

 Art, the National Library and the Botanical Gardens. Other officers: 

 Curator of the department of art and industry, Thomas H. Longtield; 

 assistants, J. J. Buckley, E. P. Alal)astei' and A. McGoogan; cura 

 tor of the department of Irish antiquities, G. Coft'ey; curator of the 

 natural science department, R. F. Schartf (a German); assistants, 

 A. R. Nichols, G. H. Carpenter, R. Pride; of the botanical depart- 

 ment, T. Johnson; of the department of geological survcA^ R. CUark; 

 of the mineralogical department, G. A. ,]. Cole. 



The annual expenditure in 1897-98 was $120,000. The administra- 

 tion appears to be cumbersome; since, for example, in the ethno- 

 graphic department, authority must be obtained from London (from 

 the science and art department), for a purchase, even though it 

 involves but a few pounds. Whether this condition exists in the other 

 de|)artnients, 1 do not know. 



37. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND. 



The National Library of Ireland is magnificent without, but within is 

 not up to strict modern library requirements, though the building w^as 

 completed onl}' in 1 890. The architect, as is so often the case, sacrificed 

 interior adaptability to exterior appearance. The stack system (five 

 decks) is made with floor plates of hammered glass and iron, but with 

 Avooden racks. In man}^ places the stacks are so poorly lighted that 

 electricity must be used even in daytime. The horseshoe-shaped 

 domed reading room (68 by 65 feet and 52 feet high,) occupies nuich 

 space in the middle of the second story. There are three smaller 

 reading rooms. On either side of the rotunda are the book stacks, 

 but only those in the right wing are as yet in use. Each is 110 feet 

 long, 86 feet wide, and 54 feet high, with a capacit}' of about 200,000 

 books. The middle one of the five decks of the book stacks is on a 

 level with the great reading room. In each of these there are 26 

 double racks, approximately 8 feet high, with an intervening space 

 of 40 inches, each with 8 or 9 shelves. On the ground or first floor, 

 in the center, are located, in addition to the broad entrance hall and 



