MUSEUMS. 35 



cations for other specimens, mainly Natural History, for object 

 lessons, and for the series of Technical Appliances on loan from the 

 Museums have been well maintained. 



The Director has much pleasure in testifying to the care and 

 attention to duty given by all the members of the Staff. 



II. — Visitors. 



Owing to the extensive structural alterations entailed by the 

 introduction of electric lighting and the new system of heating and 

 ventilation, it was found necessary, in order to safeguard the collec- 

 tions and to expedite the work, to close the Museums to the public 

 lor a considerable portion of the year. The attendance of visitors 

 during the period the Museums were open was as follows: — 



1900. 

 1899. (Jan. 1st to May 3rd.) 

 (262 Days) (90 Days) 



Total Visitors 310,482 ... 95,041 



Weekly Average 5,970 ... 5,002 



Daily Average 1,185 ... 1.056 



The attendance of school children during this period under the 

 charge of teachers has been well maintained, a large number of 

 children and teachers having availed themselves of the clause in 

 the Education Code, whereby time devoted to instruction in 

 Museums reckons as school attendance. 



Persons desirous of employing the Museums for the purpose of 

 research, reference or sketching may, by application to the 

 Director, and on giving satisfactory references, obtain tickets 

 enabling them to enter on Fridays, when there are special facilities 

 afforded them for study. Tickets were issued, as usual, during the 

 year (chiefly) to Artists and Students of Natural History, Osteology 

 and Dental Anatomy, who have made extensive use of the collec- 

 tions, so far as the condition of the Galleries permitted, on the days 

 the Museums were otherwise closed to the public. 



The following, among others, have visited the Museums during 

 the year for the purpose of inspecting the collections or other special 

 object : —Consul E. D. Adamson, Iquitos ; W. L. H. Duckworth. 

 Cambridge; Sir Walter Buller ; H. Maxwell Stuart; Dr. Durham, 



