132 accounts, etc., of the british museum. 



Department of Mineralogy. 



The Staff and its Duties. 



The staff of the Mineral Department consists of the Keeper, 

 three assistants, three attendants, and two boy-attendants. 

 The duties are distributed as follows : — 



Three Assistants. — To one is assigned most of the scientific 

 and executive work relating to the collection of mineral 

 species, including the preliminary examination of specimens 

 submitted for purchase or exchange, the registration and 

 incorporation of the recently-acquired specimens, the prepara- 

 tion of species-, variety-, and locality-labels, the determination 

 of the physical and geometrical characters of specimens, and 

 the preparation of a descriptive catalogue of the collection. 



To a second is assigned similar work relative to the speci- 

 mens of rocks. 



To the third is assigned the chemical analysis of both 

 minerals and rocks. 



Though a mineralogist can no longer satisfactorily attempt 

 to keep abreast of scientific knowledge and undertake scien- 

 tific "Work in more than one of the above three branches of 

 the subject (physical, petrological, and chemical), such a sharp 

 limitation of the work of the assistants would be contrary to 

 the interests of the Museum ; hence, as far as possible, it is 

 arranged that each assistant has the opportunity of acquiring 

 a general knowledge of the specimens preserved in the 

 Department, and of thus becoming of more general service to 

 the public in the absence of his colleagues. 



Three Attendants. — One is specially employed in the prepara- 

 tion of thin sections of minerals and rocks for examination 

 with the microscope ; a second is charged with the arrange- 

 ment and cataloguing of the Departmental Library; the third 

 with the more mechanical work of the chemical laboratory. 



The general duties of dusting the eases, packing and un- 

 packing specimens, copying, &c., are also performed by the 

 attendants. 



Two Boy -Attendants. — They attend on the superior officers 

 as required, are charged with the sale of the departmental 

 guides, and do a large part of the simpler mechanical work, 

 such as the filling of trays with clean cotton wool, &:c. 



General. 



For the continuation of the descriptive Catalogue of 

 the Mineral Collection, the following species have been 



examined : 



