118 REPORT— 1887. 



societies, and one-half of these have been since handed over either to 

 municipal corporations or to bodies of trustees for the benefit of the pub- 

 lic, the remainder being still the property of the local societies. 



About one-fourth of the existing museums were originated by indi- 

 vidual collectors, but only about a dozen of these remain in private hands. 

 About 55 museums are now the property of municipal corporations, and 

 are nearly all supported by local rates levied under the Public Libraries Act. 



About thirty belong to public institutions, universities, or schools, 

 and are supported by those institutions or by Government grants. About 

 half a dozen belong to and are entirely supported by the Imperial 

 Government. About a dozen museums were established prior to the 

 beginning of this century, about 100 were established between 1800 

 and 1870, and nearly 100 have been opened during the last sixteen years. 



The Public Libraries Act requires that the public shall have free 

 admission to all institutions, libraries, museums, or art galleries esta- 

 blished under its authority. In a Bill introduced to amend the Act, a few 

 years ago, it was proposed to modify this clause, giving corporations 

 power to make a charge on certain days, and also to raise the maximum 

 rate from a penny to twopence. This Bill, however, has not been passed. 

 Several towns have obtained power to levy a twopenny rate by clauses 

 inserted in their local Acts. 



The charges for admission to museums which are not rate-supported 

 vary from one penny to one shilling. Frequently the charge for two 

 persons or for a party is on a reduced scale, and schools and children 

 are often admitted at a still lower price. 



The usual amount realised by entrance-fees varies from 51. to lOOZ. per 

 annum. A very few museums obtain 1501. or 200?. from this soui'ce. 

 There are four whose receipts from fees are probably from 5001. to 1,000/. 

 a year, viz., Nottingham Art Museum, York, Scarborough, and South- 

 port. In all these cases the pictures and the gardens are additional 

 attractions. 



5. Cost of Maintenance. — In a large proportion of the municipal 

 museums the cost of maintenance is mixed up with that of a free library 

 or an art gallery, and cannot be separately stated. It appears, however, 

 that no first-class public museum while in a growing condition can be 

 efliciently conducted for less than about 800Z. a year, and that the very 

 large national museums in Edinburgh and Dublin cost about 10,000Z. a 

 year each. 



Second-class museums may be taken to cost from 100/. to 500/ a year ; 

 third-class from 25/. to 100/. ; fourth-class museums are mostly in a neg- 

 lected condition, and the money spent upon them is trifling. 



6. Staff and Hours. — A first-class museum requires at least 1 curator 

 at a minimum salary of 150/., 1 assistant curator at a minimum salary of 

 30/., and 2 caretakers or workpeople at a minimum salary of 25/. each. 



The large science and art museums in Edinburgh and Dublin have 

 each 1 director, 7 curators and assistants, about 30 porters and work- 

 people, including women, and pay 5,000/. a year each in salaries. 



A second-class museum has usually a salaried curator, and a workman 

 or caretaker. 



Third and fourth class museums have frequently only a caretaker. 



In addition to the paid ofiicers, however, there is a large amount of 

 supervision, and of actual work done in provincial museums by honorary 

 curators, especially in the second, third, and fourth classes. 



