ACCOUNTS, ETC., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



15 



nected with Brahmanism and other religions, as well as Early 

 Christian antiquities. The arrangement is nearly complete. 



The Department of Coins and Medals has been removed to 

 its new quarters on the western side of the Museum. 



Preparations are being made for the installation of incan- 

 descent electric lights in the Reading Room, which will be 

 completed before the autumn. 



There has been a slight reduction in the number of persons 

 using the Reading Room in 1892. The number of visits to 

 the room has been 197,984, as against 198,310 in 1891. The 

 average daily number of readers has been 651. 



The average numbers in the room counted at certain hours 

 of the afternoon have been : — 



4 P.M. 

 361 



5 P.M. 



272 



6 P.M. 



192 



.30 P.M. 

 128 



7 P.M. 

 133 



7.30 P.M. 

 95 



The number of volumes supplied to readers was 1,366,596, 

 as against 1,269,720 in 1891. 



The fluctuation in the numbers of the students in other 

 Departments is generally slight, but there has been a further 

 reduction in the number of art students using the Sculpture 

 Galleries. 



Presentations of Museum publications, including reproduc- 

 tions of drawings by Old Masters and casts of antique engraved 

 gems, have been made to Free Public Libraries, Local 

 Museums, and Art Schools throughout the United Kingdom. 



The most important addition to the collections during the 

 year is the Royal Gold Cup, which was purchased partly from 

 special grants made by the Lords Commissioners of Her 

 Majesty's Treasury, but chiefly from the liberal contributions 

 of a limited number of subscribers. The acquisition of this 

 beautiful specimen of mediaeval art restores to this country an 

 object which, though French in its origin, formed for nearlj^ 

 two hundred years part of the treasure of* the Kings of 

 England. The larger portion of the price having been 

 defrayed by the amount of the private subscriptions, the Cup 

 may with propriety be included under the head of donations 

 to the Museum. The names of the subscribers will be found 

 below, p. 62, together with a description of the Cup. 



Among the other principal donations of the year are the 

 following : — 



From the Rev. G. J. Chester (by bequest), a green basalt 

 weight, inscribed with the name of Nebuchadnezzar II., for 

 one mana, according to the standard of Dungi, King of 

 Babylonia, about B.C. 2,500. 



0.108. From 



