THE MUSEUMS. 
The Director of Museums furnishes the Fifty-sixth Annual 
Report upon the conpuctr and proGcReEss of the Museums. 
I.— GENERAL. 
Since 1896, a period of thirteen years, 75,842 specimens of 
Natural History and 10,939 specimens of Ethnography, totalling 
nearly 87,000 specimens, have been added to the collection, or an 
average of 6,675 additions per year. 
The following table shows the total number of visitors to the 
Museums during the year compared with that of the year 1907 :— 
1907. 1908. 
(264 Days.) (264 Days.) 
Total Visitors 4. wee nes Bai 466,328" Te 464,443 
Weekly Average... ig ait a 8,967 oa 8,931 
Daily Average Af ees hve its 1,766 LE 1,759 
_ The attendance of school children under the charge of teachers 
has continued, and the latter have availed themselves of the clause 
in the Education Code whereby time devoted to instruction in 
: Museums reckons as school attendance. School teachers make 
frequent use of the Museum theatre to give special lessons to their 
pupils—specimens being brought from the Museum cases for 
illustrating them. 
_ ‘Twenty-five lectures were delivered by the members of the Stati 
on Monday evenings in the lecture theatre of the Museums, specially 
dealing with the various collections in the Institution. They were 
illustrated by specimens and by lantern slides. The number of 
visitors to the Museums on these Monday evenings totals 10,533, of 
= 
which a large percentage attends the various lectures. 
