GENERAL PROGRESS AT THE MUSEUM. 13 



the pressure upon hotels and other buildings in London ; and, 

 in particular, a most unfortunate proposal was made to place the 

 Air Board there. Fortunately both for the Air Board and the 

 Museum the approval originally given to the scheme by the 

 Government was rescinded, in view of (1) the proved unsuitability 

 of the accommodation for the purposes of the Board, (2) the length 

 of time that would be required to remove the contents of the 

 Museum with due regard to their safety, (3) the reluctance of 

 the public to see the Museum endangered by placing^ a large 

 combatant Department in it, thereby making it a very legitimate 

 as well as conspicuous mark for air attack. After the rejection of 

 this proposal it was, however, agreed to provide accommodation, in 

 two ranges of almost unoccupied galleries, for the Registry of 

 Friendly Societies. The 'accommodation was very inconvenient for 

 the purposes of the Registry, and since the armistice the presence 

 of this alien Department has greatly retarded the restoration of the 

 Museum as a whole ; so that this experiment on a comparatively 

 small scale has confirmed the wisdom of the rejection of the earlier 

 and more far reaching proposal. 



The occupation of a portion of the Sub-Ground Floor of the 

 new wing by the Statistics Branch of the Medical Research 

 Committee, and of a portion of the Basement by the effects- of 

 German prisoners under the charge of the Prisoners of War Bureau, 

 has continued throughout the year. ^ 



The work of all this removal of collections by a much depleted 

 staff necessitated the postponement of the scheme for re-opening 

 portions of the Museum to the public ; but as soon as the removal 

 was completed the scheme was taken up again. The originals in 

 the galleries of Greek and Roman sculpture, including the Elgin 

 Room, were replaced by casts ; electrotypes of coins and a selection 

 of Greek vases were added ; an "exhibition of manuscripts and 

 printed books was arranged in the Grenville Room ; and thus a 

 small exhibition, reaching from the Grenville Room through the 

 Entrance Hall and Graeco-Roman galleries to the Elgin Room, 

 was prepared and opened to the public in August. The exhibition 

 proved attractive and enabled many of the overseas troops to see 

 something at least of the British Museum. 



As soon as the armistice was signed, the restoration of the 

 Museum was at once taken in hand. The removal of sandbags 

 began immediately, and before the end of the year the Assyrian 

 Transept, containing the great bulls and lions from Nineveh, had 

 been restored to view. The return of collections from Aberystwyth, 

 Malvern, and the Tube station began in. December. But the main 

 work of bringing back the collections from their places of safety, 

 and of restoring them to their positions, fell into the ensuing year. 



Visitors to the Reading Room during the year amounted to 

 114,543, as compared with 121,538 in 1917, giving a daily 

 average of 378. The visitors to the Newspaper Room were 

 10,890, as against 9,108, and to the Manuscript Room 4,621, as 

 against 5,483. Much use was made of the resources of the Library 



