336 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



state of other national museums, made the poverty 

 of our own but too apparent, yet it was about this 

 time that two assistants were appointed to aid the 

 gentleman who next succeeded to the situation, 

 and whose zeal in his official duties, and whose 

 courteous demeanour to all who frequent the Mu- 

 seum, either for information or pleasure, have been 

 so frequently praised : nor would it be just towards 

 those who share these duties, to omit a public at- 

 testation of their promptitude in giving every facility 

 in their power to all who require it, without that 

 punctilious regard to those strict regulations which 

 are certainly necessary, but which are sometimes 

 highly inconvenient to students. Of the sums of 

 money, worthily voted by the nation to this establish- 

 ment, a large portion has been expended in erecting 

 more suitable apartments for the natural history col- 

 lections, the whole of which have been removed from 

 the dark and dismal rooms they once occupied, and 

 are now arranged, or arranging, in the new buildings. 

 Were we to judge, indeed, merely from outward 

 appearances, and compare the present state of the 

 zoological collections of this Museum, with what 

 they were ten years ago, we should be tempted to 

 think that natural history was really patronised by 

 the executive government ; nor would it be supposed 

 that so imposing an appearance could exist, with a 

 deficiency of all those measures calculated to give 

 proper efficacy to such an establishment. The only 

 disadvantages of the zoological collections arise from 

 the age and imperfect preservation of the ornitho- 

 logical specimens, and the poverty of the Mammalia; 

 the shells are particularly fine, and the entomological 



