REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. I55 



prising in particular departments, such as those of the British 

 birds and the Carboniferous and Permian fossils, collections 

 the extent and historical importance of which place them 

 among the most valuable of the Society's possessions, and 

 have given them a wide fame among scientific specialists. 

 At the present moment the contents of the Museum are in 

 good order on the whole, though there is a large amount of 

 work that requires taking up on the earliest possible oppor- 

 tunity. Amongst the most pressing portions of this work are 

 the re-labelling of the moUusca, the remounting and re- 

 labelling of the majority of the fossils, the cleaning and re- 

 arrangement of the ethnological gallery, and the overhauling 

 of the store-cupboards, store-rooms, and library. All this, 

 involving as it will much detailed labour, will take a consider- 

 able time to accomplish ; and not until it is completed can 

 work of a more fundamental and progressive character be 

 entered upon. I hope that this work, when it can finally be 

 taken in hand, may include the enlargement and re-arrange- 

 ment of the collections of Invertebrata, so that this section 

 may be more adequately represented in the Museum ; the 

 formation and exhibition of an educative botanical series; 

 and the development throughout the Museum of a system of 

 guiding and explanatory labels. To carry out such a scheme 

 of progressive work in a satisfactory manner, and at the same 

 time to maintain the existing material in a good state of 

 preservation, will probably entail a considerably greater 

 annual outlay than has apparently hitherto been spent on the 

 collections of the Society. It should also be mentioned that 

 the extensive library, which is continually growing by the 

 addition of the publications of many British and foreign 

 scientific societies, will require increased accommodation and 

 a considerable expenditure on binding before its valuable 

 contents are available for reference. 



E. Leonard Gill. 



