190 THE BRITISU ISLES. 



irrespective of the locality assig-ued to it. Even Florence might envy South 

 Kensing-ton the possession of some of the best examples of Italian Renaissance,* 

 most prominent amongst which tire seven admirable cartoons by Raffael, which 

 produce almost the eftect of fresco paintings. In addition to the articles Avhich are 

 the property of the museum, there is exhibited at South Kensington a most 

 valuable "loan collection," intrusted to the authorities by wealthy amateurs, in 

 order that artists and the public may study its contents. Quite recently the 

 nniseum has been enriched by the accpiisition o£ the larger portion of the contents 

 of the old India ]Muscum. These arc exhibited in a series of rooms overlooking 

 the o-ardens of the Horticultural Society, and nowhere else in Europe is it possible 

 to meet with a larger collection of objects illustrating the history and private life 

 of the inhabitants of the Ganges peninsula. South Kensington is, indeed, becoming 

 a " town of museums." The straggling galleries which surround the gardens of 

 the society just named are filled with all kinds of objects, including huge cannons, 

 ships' models, educational apparatus, portraits of eminent Englishmen, an anthro- 

 pological collection, and maps. The new Natural Ilistory Museum occupies an 

 adjoining site. It has recently received the precious mineralogical, geological, 

 botanical, zoological, and anthropological collections of the British Museum, 

 which are the delight of the student, and some of the objects in which — as, for 

 instance, the fossilised Caraib found on Guadaloupe — are of priceless value. The 

 Patent Ofiice Museum adjoins the museum of South Kensington, and contains, in 

 addition to numerous models, several objects, such as the earliest machines and 

 engines constructed by Arkwright, Watt, and Stephenson, which no mechanician 

 can behold without a feeling of veneration. Parliament has at all times shown 

 favour to the museum in South Kensington, by willingly granting the large sums 

 demanded on its behalf by Government. During the first years of its existence 

 the Department of Science and Art was enabled to spend annually between 

 £160,000 and £200,000 in enlarging its collections.t It is nevertheless to 

 be reo-retted that a museum like this, which is at the same time a school of 

 art and science, should have been located in one of the aristocratic suburbs 

 of London, far from the centre of the town and the homes of the artisans 

 who were primarily intended to profit by its establishment. In order to obviate 

 this disadvantage, a branch museum has been opened in the industrial suburb of 

 Bethnal Green, and, besides this, the art schools throughout the country are 

 supplied with loan collections. 



London is particularly rich in special museums, some of which have already 

 been referred to. Amongst others which contribute most largely to the progress 

 of science we may mention the Geological Museum in Jermyn Street, founded by 

 De la Beche, and John Hunter's Anatomical Museum in the College of Surgeons, 



* Perrot, Revue des Beux-Moudcs, Mai 1, 1878. 



t The Science and Art Department of South Kensington fxpenda annually about £330,000, in 

 addition to which £40,000 are voted for the maintenance of the muatum, and a considerable sum (in 1879 

 £8,000) for buildings in course of construction. The expenses of the National Portrait Gallery and 

 Patent Museum, though popularly supposed to form part of the South Kensington Museum, are defrayed 

 from other sources. 



