July 6, 191 1] 



NATURE 



1 1 



SOLES OS THE HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE 



MUSEUM. 



THE recent discussions relating to the Science 

 •^ Museum have brought to the front several im- 

 portant questions connected with the utilisation of 

 land for public purposes connected with science and 

 the arts. They have occurred, too, at a time when the 

 Royal Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851, who 

 in times past have behaved so generously in selling 

 their land at a nominal price, have now parted with the 

 last square yard of it which can be used for the high 

 purposes determined upon by the late Prince Consort 

 when it was placed at his disposal by them. 



It seems desirable, therefore, to bring together as 

 briefly as possible the facts touching the various 

 allocations of the land which have been made from 

 time to time. In this wav we shall be able to touch 

 upon some of the circumstances which have arisen 

 regarding museum sites during the last half-century. 

 Further, we shall be led to recognise the vast benefits 

 which have been conferred upon the nation by the 

 Commissioners' action. 



The present site of the new Victoria and Albert 

 .Museum to the east of Exhibition Road was the 

 first thus devoted in 1S58, after the partnership be- 

 tween the Commissioners and the Government had 

 been dissolved, chiefly to the purposes of Art, although 

 a small Patent Museum ("the Boilers") had before 

 that year been erected by the Government at a cost 

 of 15,000?. 



Next came the plot on the south face of the main 

 square of the Commissioners' estate, facing Crom- 

 well Road. This was the largest plot conveyed to the 

 Government for national purposes, and its transfer 

 was made memorable by a remarkable speech by Lord 

 Palmerston concerning the Cabinet's decision to pur- 

 chase it, and the uses to which it was proposed to 

 apply it. In this speech (Hansard, June 15, 1S63), 

 Lord Palmerston, the Prime Minister, took pains to 

 show the generous action of the Commissioners. 

 Some extracts from this speech may be given. 



" Sir, I rise to propose the Vote of which notice 

 has been given, for the purchase of land and buildings 

 on the site of the Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862. This 

 City of London may, without exaggeration, be called 

 the commercial capital of the world. It ranks high 

 among- the great political centres of civilised nations, 

 and in point of wealth and population it may very 

 fairly be stated to exceed any other European city. 

 But the very circumstances which I have mentioned 

 — the great wealth and great population of the Citv 

 — have tended progressivelv to impair the architectural 

 and ornamental character of the town. Our streets 

 are narrow, our open spaces few and small, our public 

 buildings are not many, and, respecting- those which 

 do exist, differences of opinion prevail as to their 

 propriety of ornamentation and architectural design. 

 We have not, in this town, what are to be found in 

 manv smaller towns upon the Continent, a great 

 number of splendid palaces belonging to individuals. 

 When we have mentioned Northumberland House, 

 and. perhaps, Lansdownc House, if we are called on 

 to enumerate other great ornamental constructions. 

 we shall be driven to the, no doubt, verv beautiful 

 collection of apparent palaces — the clubs in Pall Mall, 

 manv of which are imitations of beautiful palaces on 

 the Continent. In all the Italian towns, at Prague, 

 and in most German towns, there are large piles of 

 ornamental buildings which represent the wealth and 

 rnsto of the nobilitv of those countries. What is the 

 reason of that? What is the reason of the inferiority 

 of this city as compared with other first-rate towns, 

 in regard to the conditions of the space occupied by 

 NO. 2175, VOL. 87] 



and the character of the buildings? The great run 

 of the private houses of London may really be termed 

 mean. I am not speaking of those more lately con- 

 structed, which are on a better plan ; but the old red- 

 brick houses of London are low, they are destitute of 

 architectural ornament, and may be said to be mean 

 in their character. What is the cause? It arises 

 from the great value of the ground — from the immense 

 competition which the wealth of the metropolis causes 

 for the small spaces of ground. People are unable to 

 buy a large quantity of ground on which to construct 

 a house, and, having paid dearly for such a portion 

 of the land as they require, they have smaller dis- 

 posable means for the erection of ornamental and 

 handsome structures. The price of land in London is 

 very great. I will just mention a few instances to 

 show the value that attaches to the surface in this 

 great town. . . . Therefore I say that the natural 

 progress of wealth and civilisation tends to add greatly 

 to the value of land to be covered by buildings in the 

 interior of towns ; and admitting that there are certain 

 requisites which are necessary for the development 

 of the public establishments and buildings, the ques- 

 tion arises where the land for such purposes can be 

 acquired, and whether we should look for it in the 

 centre of the town, where everything is covered with 

 valuable property, or whether we should embrace the 

 opportunity of acquiring it at certain greater dis- 

 tances, but still within reach for all the purposes to 

 which it is to be applied. Well, we hold that the 

 land held at Kensington by the Commissioners of 

 185 1 does afford the means of providing' for our 

 immediate and' prospective wants, and we are able 

 to get land there for our immediate purposes on terms 

 infinitely cheaper than those on which land can be 

 acquired nearer the centre of the metropolis." 



Having shown how the question was dominated 

 by the price of land in various parts of the metropolis, 

 Lord Palmerston passed to the then requirements of 

 the Government. The chief of these was an expan- 

 sion of the Patent Museum before referred to, and 

 also of the British Museum. 



In 1859, two years after the establishment of the 

 Patent Office Museum, the Commissioners of Patents 

 laid a Report before Parliament, in which the follow- 

 ing passage occurs : — 



"It is intended to make the Patent Office Museum 

 an historical and educational institution for the bene- 

 fit and instruction of the skilled workmen employed 

 in the various factories of the kingdom, a class which 

 largely contributes to the surplus fund of the Patent 

 Office in fees paid upon patents granted for their 

 valuable inventions. Exact models of machinery in 

 subjects and series of subjects, showing the progres- 

 sive steps of improvement in the machines for each 

 branch of manufacture, are to be exhibited ; for 

 example, it is intended to show in series of exact 

 models each important invention and improvement in 

 steam propellers (steamboat propulsion) from the first 

 engine that drove a boat of two tons burden to the 

 gigantic machinerv of the present day, propellinf the 

 first-rate ship of war or of commerce. The original 

 small experimental engine that drove the boat of two 

 tons burden, above referred to, is now in the museum." 



Add to these illustrations of applied science similar 

 illustrations of the instruments used in the advance 

 of pure science, and we have a picture of what is 

 required in the Science Museum of to-day. 



Lord Palmerstone thus referred to the needs of this 

 museum : — 



"Now, the question is, what do we want? What 

 are the requirements that press on the Government? 

 In the first place, we want a Patent Museum. Any- 

 one who considers the value of a great collection of 



