A GUIDE TO THE 



COLLECTIONS IN 



THE COLOMBO MUSEUM. 



INTRODUCTION. 



HE collections of objects of antique, local, and general 

 interest which are exhibited in the Colombo Museum 

 are intended to illustrate solely the products of human 

 ingenuity and cultivation, and the forms of nature as manifested 

 in the Island of Ceylon and its dependencies. With few exceptions, 

 which are specially noted where they occur, nothing is shown in 

 the galleries which has not been found in the country or in the 

 surrounding seas. 



Owing to considerations of space on the ground floor, the 

 various Buddhistical, Ethnographical, and Archaeological exhibits 

 are not arranged in such a strictly systematic manner as could be 

 desired. 



The Zoological collections occupy the upper floor of the Museum. 

 The Mineral Gallery is situated at the back of the main building. 



If reference be made to the ground plan of the Museum it will 

 be seen that the rooms to the right of the entrance hall are assigned 

 to the Library and Reading Room. The Library contains an 

 exhaustive assemblage of books bearing directly or indirectly upon 

 the religion, agriculture, archceology,and natural history of Ceylon. 

 There is also a valuable collection of native literature in the 

 form of Ola iUailuscriptS, relating in one form or another chiefly to 



B 105-04 



