TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION D. — DEPT. ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY. 597 



sorry to say that it is, I believe, owing to expressions of opinion on the part of 

 those who ought to know hetter, that the cost of this library was considerably 

 underrated when the removal to South Kensington was determined upon. We 

 cannot blame the Government that they hesitated for years before they acceded to 

 the pressing representations of the Trustees of the British Museum, to begin with 

 its formation, when they were told by naturalists that the corf of such a library 

 would be something between 10,000/. and 20,000/. I could nardly believe my 

 eyes when I read only a few weeks ago in the leader of a weekly periodical 

 specially devoted to science, ' that had the Trustees put aside a thousand a year 

 for this purpose when it was first determined to remove the Natural History col- 

 lections ten years ago, there would have been by this time in existence a library 

 fully adequate to the purpose.' The writer must have either a very poor idea of 

 the objects and work of a National Museum, or an imperl^ect knowledge of the 

 extent of the literature of Natural History. 10,000/. might suffice to purchase a 

 good ornithological library, and 1 ,000/. would purchase the annual additions to all 

 the various branches of natural history ; but the former sum would be much too 

 small if the purchase of those works only were intended which are required for 

 the technical work of naming animals, plants, fossils, and minerals. A hetter cal- 

 culation was made by the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the 

 British Museum in 1860, who stated that 'the formation of a Natural History 

 Library would cost about 30,000/. at the present time ' (1860). Considering that 

 twenty years have elapsed since, and that this part of the literature has shown 

 year by year a steady increase, we must put our estimate considerably higher than 

 the writer of that article. 



With the aid of some of my friends who know, from their daily occupation, the 

 market value of Natural History works, I made a calculation some years ago, 

 and we came to the conclusion that a complete Natural History Library will 

 cost 70,000/. : and, irapalatable as this statement may be to those who have advo- 

 cated the removal of the Natural History collections, and therefore, must be held 

 responsible for this concomitant expense, it Avill be found to be true. It will 

 be satisfactory to you to learn that the Government have at last sanctioned the 

 expenditure of half that amount. 



Now, in my opinion, such a librarj^ formed in connection with the National 

 Museum, should not be reserved for the use of the officials, but I would recommend 

 that it should be accessible to the general class of students in the same manner as 

 any other part of the collections. It is for this reason that I wish to see it rendered 

 as perfect as possible with respect to the older publications (many of which are 

 getting scarcer year by year), as well as to the most recent. Whether or not_ a 

 similarly perfect collection of Natural History books exists in some other place in 

 London, is another question with which I am not concerned. The general 

 National Library evidently ought to contain a perfect set of books on Natural 

 History, irrespective of other claims ; but to have Natural History collections in 

 one place, and the books relating to them in another miles away, will produce as 

 much inconvenience as is experienced T^y the person who puts the powder into 

 the one barrel of his gun and the shot into the other. 



If the British Museum (for the collections will remain united under this old 

 time-honoured name, though locally separated) continues to receive that support 

 from the Government to which it is justly entitled, I have no doubt that it will not 

 only fulfil all the aims of a National Collection, but that it will be also able to give 

 to the kindred provincial institutions the aid which has recently been claimed on 

 their behalf. Under au Act of Parliament which was passed in the previous 

 session, and which empowers the Trustees to part with duplicate specimens, several 

 of those museums have already received collections of zoological objects. But I 

 consider it my duty to caution those who are in charge of those Museums to be 

 careful as to the manner in which thej' avail themselves of this opportunity. W^ell- 

 preserved duplicates of the rarer and more valuable vertebrate animals are very 

 scarce in the British Museum, the funds for purchase being much too small to permit 

 the acquisition of duplicates. What we possess of this kind of duplicates are 

 generally deteriorated specimens, and therefore ought not to be received by Pro- 



