192 Miscellaneous. 
As initiator and organizer of the system of instruction in geology 
at South Kensington, already so well described in this Magazine, 
Judd did a great work, for this system was then unequalled in 
Britain and has never been surpassed. On that point I can speak 
with confidence, since I acted for some years as his external 
examiner, and have had, in a similar capacity, considerable experience 
elsewhere. The results were admirable, and continue to be so under 
his successor, and it is therefore regrettable that, when Judd retired 
in 1905, his pension was calculated, on technical grounds, not from 
the date of his appointment to office in 1876, when he at once devoted ~ 
his whole time to the work, but from 1881, when that became 
obligatory. It is, however, still possible to mitigate the injustice, 
for such it really was, by means of a pension from the Civil List to 
those who survive him. His only reward was the barren honour 
of being nominated Emeritus Professor of the Imperial College 
in 1913. 
T. G. Bonner. 
MISCHILLAN HOUS.- 
—_—_@—___ 
Tar Crosine or NarronaL GxEoLogicaAL CoLLECTIONS. 
Although it is not the habit of this Magazine to intermeddle with 
politics it seems desirable to put on record Government action with 
regard to National Geological Collections. A full account of the 
action of the Government is printed in the Museums Journal for March, 
including a verbatim report of the speeches in the Lords, the 
Deputation to the Prime Minister, and the comments of the German 
and Austrian Press. 
The report by the Retrenchment Committee was very severely 
handled in the Zimes by ‘‘ A Biological F.R.S.”, and among the more 
noteworthy letters that appeared in that newspaper were those of 
Sir Ray Lankester, who commented on the ignorance of the political 
Trustees of the British Museum, and the letter of the Speaker of the 
House of Commons (himself a principal Trustee of the British Museum), 
a letter which completely justified Lankester’s biting satire. 
The final result is that at the British Museum (Natural History) 
the galleries of Fossil’ Mammalia and Reptilia and the Gallery of 
Mineralogy will be open to the public on Monday, Wednesday, and 
Friday ; the other collections of fossils will be closed continuously. 
But so long as sufficient staff is available any student can have access 
to the collections at the normal times by personal application to 
a member of the staff. 
As regards the Museum of Practical Geology, it is ‘‘ closed to 
the general public’’, but the Geological Survey Offices, with the Map 
Room and Library, which are approachable only through the 
Museum, are open as usual. Teachers with their classes are still 
permitted to have access to maps, photographs, and other illustrations 
of the Survey’s work. 
‘« Parturiunt montes, nascitur ridiculus mus.” 
