kEPORT ON MUSEUM WORK 5 



one end of the bird room gallery. The desk cases in the bird 

 room have also had attention. Two of them, devoted to eggs 

 and nests, were re-fitted several years ago, and now the other 

 two have been taken in hand and much improved, though 

 some amount of work still remains to be done upon them. 

 Finally, the glass covers of the groups on pedestals, in the 

 bird room and elsewhere, have been cleaned, as have also the 

 specimens underneath them where necessary. Owing to their 

 great weight the larger covers were very difficult to handle, 

 but we happily succeeded in cleaning them all without mishap. 

 Altogether it may certainly be said that the bird room looks 

 better at present than it has ever done before. 



In the third large room, the fossil room, nothing of im- 

 portance has been done during the year. There is an over- 

 whelming amount of work in that room waiting to be taken 

 up, but it is only by practically abandoning it for the time 

 that we can hope to make headway with some of the really 

 discreditable sections of the zoology room. A number of 

 additions and some small improvements have been made in 

 the mineral gallery. In the ethnology gallery a considerable 

 number of fresh acquisitions have been worked in. We have 

 also, through the kindness of Sir R. K. Douglas and Dr. 

 Wallis Budge, been allowed 'to send our Burmese palm -leaf 

 books and Babylonian inscribed bricks to the British Museum 

 for examination, and they have been returned with information 

 as to the content of the writings which has enabled us to 

 label them in a much more interesting way than was possible 

 before. 



Miscellaneous work in various parts of the museum has 

 included the renovating of some detached cases, such as those 

 of the Japanese giant crab and the polar bear, and a large 

 amount of inspection and overhauling of reference collections. 

 Other matters upon which a good deal of time has been spent 

 are the editing of transactions and the preparation of the 

 library catalogue. Miss Welford has now made a typewritten 

 copy of the catalogue, and has re-arranged the books in 

 accordance with it ; and she is at present preparing an author- 



