i894. ADDRESS TO THE MUSEUMS' ASSOCIATION. 31 



Already part of that sum of ^3,000 had been expended by the 

 Society on the building for the new Museum, but the grant which 

 was applied for was refused by the Lords of the Treasury, and the 

 building when completed was never used as a Museum, having, in the 

 year 1849, on the recommendation of Mr. Poynter, been handed over 

 to the new School of Design under the Board of Trade, As it had 

 been built by the Society, a claim for a compensatory grant 

 was put forward, and in 1853 the Government voted a sum of 

 ;^5,ooo, provided half that amount was raised by public subscription, 

 for building a Natural History Museum. It was proposed to make it 

 a truly National Museum, and an efficient adjunct to the "educational 

 functions of the Society, and especially to the Schools of Art." The 

 foundation of the Museum was not laid till three years later, namely, 

 on the 7th of April, 1856, the ceremony being presided over by Lord 

 Carlisle, who was then Lord Lieutenant. As had been fully provided 

 by Act of Parliament (17 & 18 Vict. c. 99), its design was in harmony 

 with that of the intended National Gallery, which was also to contain 

 Marsh's Library. 



Dargan's Great Exhibition was held on the Society's grounds in 

 1853, but it is no part of this account to deal with it, nor with any of 

 the other exhibitions and shows which have been held under the 

 Society's auspices. 



In 1854 the Society first commenced to report its operations to, 

 and was placed under the Science and Art Department of, the Board 

 of Trade. 



At about this period the Museum of Irish Industry had developed 

 somewhat beyond its originally intended scope as a technical 

 Museum ; this led to some controversy with the Royal Dublin 

 Society, which was intensified by the fact that the professors had 

 been transferred from the Society to the first-named institution. 



In 1857 the completion of the building of the new Natural 

 History Museum, on the occasion of the visit of the British Associa- 

 tion to Dublin, was inaugurated by the delivery of lectures by Sir 

 Wm. Thompson on the Atlantic Telegraph Cable, and by Dr. Living- 

 stone on his African discoveries. 



In 1858 an Exhibition of Decorative Art was held in the new 

 Museum, to which a loan collection was contributed by the South 

 Kensington Museum. 



In 1859-60 the Natural History Museum received important loans 

 from the Royal Irish Academy and from the Royal Zoological Society. A 

 well-known collection of shells, by bequest from Thomas W. Warren ; 

 donations of birds and insects from British Columbia, by Dr. (after- 

 wards Sir) Charles Lyell ; and a highly valuable collection of 

 Arctic mammals, birds, fossils, and minerals from Captain (afterwards 

 Admiral Sir) Leopold M'Clintock, who continued for many years to 

 be a contributor to the collections, were also received. 



Much pressure was at this time used by the Government, even 



