130 



THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



LIGHTING OF THE MUSEUM. ' .' 



It is our misfortune that the oldest 

 portion of the building was erected in 

 the days when museums were considered 

 more from an architectural point of 

 view than as receptacles for the storage 

 and display of natural history objects, 

 consequently this museum, while a fine 

 example of Italian Renaissance style, is 

 very badly lighted in parts. To over- 

 come this defect electric light is being 

 installed, and already the wall cases in 

 the palaeontological room have been il- 

 luminated, so that the interesting collec- 

 tion of vertebrate fossils can now be 

 seen to advantage. At the same time 

 electric light has been supplied to the 



lecture hall, the board room and front 

 offices, and tlie lion and Antarctic groups, 

 the attractiveness of which has thus been 

 greatly enhanced. 



GROUPS. 



The Boatswain Bird group, the mak- 

 ing of which is described by Mr. A. R. 

 McCulloch in this issue, is almost com- 

 pleted, and will, we feel sure, form a 

 most interesting and attractive exhibit. 

 The preparation of the Admiralty Is- 

 lets bird group and the coral pool is 

 now jDroceeding, and, when these three 

 exhibits are on view, Lord HoAve Island 

 will have an added interest for our 

 visitors. 



Notes and News. 



His Excellency the Governor General 

 and Lady Forster, accompanied by Cap- 

 tain C. J. Traill, M.C., A.D.C., paid a 

 visit of inspection to the Museum on 

 22nd May. Their Excellencies were 

 much interested in the collections, and 

 the activities of the institution. 



Two members of the Board of Trus- 

 tees, Sir James Burns and Dr. J. R. 

 M. Robertson, have recently departed on 

 an extended trip to Europe. We wish 

 them both a prosperous and enjoyable 

 journey. 



The Museum possesses a large collec- 

 tion of coins, ancient and modern, but 

 these, through lack of suitable space, 

 have not previously been exhibited. A 

 show case has now been set apart for 

 the display of a portion of the collec- 

 tion, and, by periodically changing its 

 contents, an opportunity will be given 

 for the public to inspect the more in- 

 teresting coins contained in the Museum. 



Among recent visitors were Mr. S. 

 A. Greenland, Department of Native Af- 

 fairs, and Mr. A. P. Lyons, Resident 

 Magistrate of the Eastern Division, 

 Papua. Two students of anthropology, 



Mr. F. E. Williams, of Ballioi CoHege, 

 Oxford, and Mr. GuUberg, of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, AVashington, both on 

 their way to make investigations in New 

 Guinea, called at the Museum and 

 examined our anthropological collections. 

 Another recent visitor was Dr. Herbert 

 Basedow, who is proceeding to the Nor- 

 thern Territory to lead an exploring 

 party on an oil quest. 



In our last issue it was mentioned 

 that "some members of our flora and 

 fauna which are not appreciated in Aus- 

 tralia are in great demand in other parts 

 of the world," and the case of the More- 

 ton Bay fig was instanced. Since then 

 the fine fig trees bordering the central 

 avenue in Hyde Park, Sydney, have been 

 condemned to death, and most of them 

 are already gone to provide an outlet 

 for passenger traffic l)y the projected 

 underground railway. There may be 

 good and sufficient reasons why these 

 trees could not be spared, but their pass- 

 ing will be deplored by many. As 

 Henry Ward Beecher said, "Of all man's 

 works of art, a cathedral is greatest. A 

 vast and majestic tree is greater than 

 that." 



