AX ATERTED CALAMITY 51 



tion as to whether the buildings were suitable for the purpose for 

 which it was proposed to requisition them. 



' The proposal, at once elicited protests from the leaders of art and 

 science throughout the country, whose indignation found expression 

 in the columns of the Times, as well as in the London and provincial 

 press. Many learned and scientifiii bodies supported the protest by 

 resolution : among the latter may be mentioned the Linnean Society, 

 which, at a largely attended special meeting hurriedly convened, 

 adopted the resolutions which will be found on p. 63. One of the most 

 forcible of the published letters was that of Sir Frank Crisp, who 

 speaking for the Natural History Museum, did not hesitate to say — 

 what was oiily too clearly the case — that those who were responsible 

 for the proposal had evidently no notion of the value which attached 

 to the collections or of the damage which would be incurred in moving 

 them, and were ignorant of the importance attaching to the types 

 which the Museum contained. 



Kesentment so strong and so unanimous could have hut one 

 result : little more than a week after the proposal had been made, the 

 abandonment of the scheme for appropriation Avas announced by 

 Lord Sudeley in the Plouse of Lords. We append the Times account 

 of the proceedings, in which will be noted the admission that the 

 decision was arrived at without consideration, and that the buildings, 

 had they been appropriated, would have proved unsuitable for the 

 purpose proposed :— 



" Lord Sudelet called attention to the proposed appropriation of 

 the British Museum at Bloomsbmy to the purposes of the Air 

 Ministry, and of the Natural History Museum at South Kensington 

 for other public offices. He said he was confident that the decision 

 to appropriate the buildings was arrived at by the Government before 

 they had full information. All the learned societies and authorities 

 throughout the country had protested against the proposal to appro- 

 priate so great a national trust as the British Museum. The idea was 

 absurd, especially in view of the fact that other premises were avail- 

 able. The Government, he believed, had not availed themselves fully 

 of the accommodation of the Hotel Cecil ; and the Port of London 

 Authority's buildings and the Bethlem Hospital could be utilized for 

 the purposes of the Air Ministry. The Natural History Museum had 

 done an immense amount of work for war services. [Hansard adds : 

 " It has, I believe, been consulted by fourteen different Government 

 Departments. "] 



"Earl Curzoist said that, as regards the British Museum, he was 

 glad to state that for the accommodation of the Air Ministry it was 

 no longer necessar}- to appi'opriate that building. As to the Natural 

 History Museum, it had been found, after detailed examination, that 

 any attempt to convert the galleries into public offices would involve 

 the closing of the building to the public, extensive interi'.al rearrange- 

 ments, and the consumption of an enormous amount of labour and 

 material and very considerable delay. In these circumstances it had 

 been decided that there was no necessity sufficiently urgent to warrant 

 the use of the Museum as had been contemplated." 



It may be of interest to add here some indication of the help 



E 2 



