2 REPORT OF THE COUNCIL 



of residue should be set aside as a quasi-capital fund, 

 to be available, under the order of the Council, to meet extra- 

 ordinary expenditures that may from time to time be found 

 necessary. Certain disbursements from it have already been 

 sanctioned, including the cost of a new heating-boiler 

 and some alterations to the hot-water system, the purchase 

 of a new typewriting machine, of a cabinet for a large 

 collection of local beetles, and of about ^io-worth of selected 

 specimens of marine invertebrates from the zoological stations 

 at Naples and Plymouth. Some of these items of expenditure 

 call for a word of explanation. The new boiler was required 

 to replace an old one which had been in use since the 

 Museum was built, and which finally became unusable early 

 in the winter. The alterations in the hot-water system were 

 designed to secure a better distribution of heat in the front of 

 the building, where (especially in the vestibule and library) 

 the circulation had never been satisfactory. A new arrange- 

 ment of the connexions was made, and a new return-pipe laid 

 from the front of the building back to the boilers. As the 

 work was carried out in the spring, after artificial heating had 

 ceased, its success has not yet been fully proved, but pre- 

 liminary tests give every reason to expect a perfectly satis- 

 factory result. 



The collection of local beetles for which a cabinet has been 

 bought is that which was described in the last report. It is 

 being formed from a combination of three remarkably good 

 private collections, namely those of the late T. J. Bold, and 

 of Mr. Jno. Gardner, of Hartlepool, and Mr. R. S. Bagnall. 

 The two latter gentlemen have kindly given their collections 

 for this special purpose, conditionally upon suitable cases 

 being provided, and the final combined collection will probably 

 be the most complete of its kind in this country. At the time 

 of the last report no means of providing cabinet space for this 

 valuable collection were in sight, and the Council considered 

 it a very suitable object for which to draw upon the special 

 fund. The typewriter which has been purchased is a 

 Hammond machine. It is well adapted for museum work, 



