The New Museum. 49 



attraction of the exhibition of Gould's Humming Birds and the 1879-1881. 

 groups of Nesting British Birds. 



GRANTS FOR ANNUAL EXPENDITURE. 

 (1879-81.) 



The grants varied in these three years : they amounted, for 

 purchases, to 1000, 1 200 and <! 200 respectively ; for preparing, 

 to 772, 944 and 900 ; for preparing and printing catalogues, 

 to 900, 900 and 11 00. 



THE NEW MUSEUM. 



(1879-81.) 



The progress of the fittings for the zoological galleries and 

 rooms, which had slackened in 1879, was accelerated by an 

 appeal of the Trustees to the Treasury, and by the end of 1880 

 all the plans of the cases had been passed by the Keepers. 

 Estimates were prepared for the spirit building ; in spite of the 

 simplicity of its construction, and of the inexpensive character of 

 the internal fittings, the estimates amounted to 17,043 for the 

 building, and 3509 for the cases. 



Index Museum and Guide-books. The Trustees obtained the 

 opinion of the Keepers about the so-called " Index Museum " 

 projected by the Superintendent. It was devised to form, for 

 the instruction of the visitors, an epitome of the exhibitions 

 spread over many large galleries, and bewildering by their 

 variety and magnitude ; it would include representatives of 

 all the most remarkable types exhibited in the Museum. Only 

 one of the four Keepers (Botany) supported the scheme. The 

 Keeper of Zoology took this opportunity of submitting to the 

 Trustees that, combined with a more elaborate system of 

 labelling than had been in use at Bloomsbury, "guide-books" 

 would fully supply the advantages to be gained by a separate 

 exhibition of types in the "Index Museum." He did not 

 advocate the crowding of labels into the cases. The American 

 system of having " a collection of labels illustrated by specimens " 

 seemed to him a mistake. What he recommended to the 

 Trustees was this : 



" To render the exhibition-series in every way instructive, 

 Dr. Giinther proposes that a more perfect plan of labelling 

 throughout the collection be introduced, and that a new guide- 

 book should be prepared. A clearly written guide, well illustrated 



