108 ACCOUNTS, ETC., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



British Museum (Natural History). 



STATEMENT of Progress made in the Arrangement and 

 Description of the Collections, and Account of Objects 

 added to them, in the Year 1910. 



General Progress. 



Visitors. 



The total number of visits made by the public to the 

 Natural History Museum during 1910 was 515,562, as compared 

 with 535,116 in 1909. The number of visits on week days was 

 457,804, and on Sunday afternoons 57,758 ; both these figures 

 are less than those of the previous two years. 



The average daily attendance for all open days was 1,424 ; 

 for week days only, 1,477 ; and for Sunday afternoons, 1,111. 



Swiney Lectures. 



Dr. T. J. Jehu gave his second course of Swiney Lectures 

 during November, the subject for the year being "The Coasts 

 of Great Britain and Ireland." 



The lectures, twelve in number, were delivered in the 

 lecture theatre of the Victoria and Albert Museum by pejrmis- 

 sion of the Board of Education, and the total attendance for 

 the course was 2,321 persons, or an average of 193 per lecture. 



The Trustees have re-appointed Dr. Jehu to the Swiney 

 Lectureship for a further period of two years (1911-12). The 

 subject of the lectures in 1911 will be "Rocks: their origin 

 and natural history." 



Destructive Action of Light. 



In connection with the question of the deterioration of 

 exhibited specimens caused by the action of light, tests by the 

 National Physical Laboratory are in progress with a view to 

 ascertain {a) the effect of exposure of skins of animals (from 

 the duplicate series) to full sunlight, and (6) the light-filtering 

 properties of certain kinds of glass. 



Interim reports on the subject have been received, and 

 further experiments are in progress at the Laboratory with a 

 view to determining this very important question. 



In the meanwhile the windows of the Lower Mammal 

 Gallery arc being fitted with opaque blinds to exclude all light 

 during the hours when the Museum is not open. 



