REPORT ON MUSEUM WORK. 48 1 



have it done. Mr. S. Graham has again given a good deal 

 of time to overhauling the Raine collection of eggs ; and my 

 thanks are also due to Mr. R. C. Clephan for making out 

 labels for a set of flint implements ; to Mr. T. Oppe (who 

 worked for some time in the museum whilst recruiting after an 

 illness) for help in cataloguing the library, and for making a 

 beginning upon the more detailed classification of the rock 

 collection ; to Dr. Woolacott for giving advice as to the rock 

 collection and drawing up a scheme of arrangement for it; 

 and to Prof. Lebour, who is preparing a series of geological 

 sections which are to be enlarged and put up above the cases 

 in the fossil room. I must also specially thank Mr. Richard 

 Adamson for so kindly taking my place at one of the evening 

 " talks." It would be an advantage in many ways if a change 

 of this sort could be arranged for more frequently. 



Among scientific men who have used the museum this year 

 in the course of their work, mention may be made of Prof. 

 F. W. Oliver and Mr. A. N. Arber, who came to study our 

 examples of the Carboniferous seed-bearing plants, and to 

 whom some large slabs were lent for closer examination. Sir 

 Charles Eliot also spent several days at the museum in work- 

 ing through Alder and Hancock's collection of nudibranchs, 

 before the most important part of the material was handed 

 over to him on loan. And since the value of the museum 

 collections is not everywhere fully appreciated, the opinion of 

 an expert ethnologist from Cambridge is worth recording : 

 on a recent visit, speaking especially of our series of 

 ethnological objects from New Zealand and the South Seas, 

 he said that he knew of no collection of moderate size which 

 contained such a high proportion of extremely rare and 

 valuable specimens. 



. In my last report I pointed out how far we were from being 

 able, on the present resources of the institution, to discharge 

 the curatorial duties in a satisfactory manner. The position 

 in this respect is still the same. I can hardly be allowed to 

 repeat all that I wrote last year, but it may perhaps help to a 

 practical understanding of the real position if I mention some 



