282 NATURAL SCIENCE. April, 



For the first time in its history the House of Commons has passed a resolution 

 in favour of the opening of the National Museums and Art Galleries in London on 

 Sundays, though only "for a limited number of hours after 2 p.m.," and "upon 

 condition that no officer shall be required to attend on more than six days, and that 

 any who have conscientious objections shall be exempt from Sunday duty." The 

 amendment moved by Sir Mark Stewart, that opening should take place on three 

 week-day evenings of each week instead of on Sunday, was rejected by 178 votes to 

 93. The smallness of the numbers indicates that many members kept away in order 

 to escape the possible censure of their constituencies, for no one exactly seems to know 

 what are the real wishes of the mass of the people on this question. Those who spoke 

 in favour of Mr. Massey-Mainwaring's motion were Mr. Lough, Sir S. Montagu, 

 who claimed to give the views of the poorest classes of London, Sir G. Trevelyan, 

 who put in a word for the professional middle-classes, Mr. Holborn, who came from 

 "Sabbatarian Scotland," Mr. Goschen, speaking as a private member, Mr. Burns, 

 who may fairly claim to represent labour, Mr. Lowles, and Sir John Lubbock, who said 

 that "the Trustees of the British Museum were anxious to open that building in 

 accordance with the resolution before the House." Those who spoke against the 

 motion were Colonel Sandys, Colonel Ward, and Lord Warkworth, all of whose 

 objections, based avowedly upon theological grounds are, as The Tunes says, " to be 

 treated with all respect, but have never been a dominant factor in the situation." 

 It does not follow from the passing of this resolution that our London Museums are 

 to be opened this year, next year, or ever. The authorities of the museums and of 

 the Treasury have to be in accord with the resolution and with one another. 

 Mr. Balfour has informed the House that the authorities of the institutions con- 

 cerned are being consulted ; but up to the time of our going to press those 

 authorities had not even received formal intimation of the resolution. A special 

 meeting of the Trustees of the British Museum, convened to consider the question, 

 had, therefore, to be adjourned. The other museums at South Kensington, the 

 Museum of Practical Geology, and the Bethnal Green Museum must receive their 

 orders from the Science and Art Department, and their opening will no doubt 

 resolve itself into a mere question of money. It is greatly to be hoped that the good 

 resolution passed by the House of Commons may not be consigned, from want of 

 the necessary means, to form another paving-stone in a country beyond the scope of 

 this magazine. 



The monthly evening lectures at the Whitechapel Museum are to be given, in 

 April, by Mr. Chalmers Mitchell, on " The Food-Supply of the World " ; in May, 

 by Dr. Gregory, on some subject connected with his African expedition; in June, 

 by Dr. A. Keith, on " Whitechapel Ears." 



The Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow, has purchased from Professor Westerlund 

 2,000 species and varieties of palasarctic land and fresh-water shells. The Corpora- 

 tion has acquired the Mansion House of Camp Hill, and it is intended to use the 

 main floor as a local exhibition gallery for the southern district of Glasgow. Other 

 galleries are being built at Glasgow, and will doubtless prove of interest to the 

 members of the Museums Association, which will meet in that town during this 

 year, under the presidency of Mr. James Paton, the superintendent of the museum 

 and galleries. 



The American Museum of Natural History sent a collecting expedition last 

 year to the Uintah beds of N.E. Utah, then between the eastern escarpment of the 

 Uintah range and the Green River to the Washakie Beds of S.W. Wyoming. The 

 most important result geologically was the determination that the Brown Park 

 deposit was of much later age than the Uintah. 



From the sixteenth annual report of the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, 

 Dr. C. D. Walcott, we learn that certain changes in organisation have been made. 

 The work of the Survey is now distributed under the four heads, Geologic, 

 Topographic, Publication, and Administration, the first of these being again divided 



