14 ACCOUNTS, ETC., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



The visits of students to particular Departments likewise 

 sliow reductions in nearly every instance, though to a less 

 marked extent. The visitors to the Reading Room numbered 

 224,560, as against 243,659, those to the Newspaper Room 

 16,704, as against 17,938, and those to the Students' Rooms 

 of the other Departments 31,949, as against 37,788. The only 

 item which shows an increase is the number of students 

 working in the Sculpture Galleries. 



Owing to the continuous and increasing demand for the 

 services of the official guide-lecturer, a second guide was 

 appointed provisionally in May, and his appointment was 

 made permanent in November. The number of persons attend- 

 ing the guides' lectures during the year was approximately 

 20,300. 



The extension building, officially known as King Edward 

 the Seventh's Galleries, was opened to the public on May 7th, 

 by His Majesty the King, accompanied by Her Majesty the 

 Queen and H.R.H. Princess Mary, in the presence of more 

 than 800 invited guests, including the Trustees and their 

 friends. Members of the Diplomatic Corps, representatives of 

 Government Departments and other distinguished persons, 

 benefactors of the Museum, and past and present members 

 of the Museum staff, both at Bloomsbury and at the Natural 

 History Museum. A bust of H.M. King Edward VII. was 

 unveiled by H.M. the King, and His Majesty was graciously 

 pleased to declare the building open. Their Majesties then 

 proceded to view the new exhibition galleries, which were also 

 visited in the afternoon by a large number of invited guests, 

 and were thrown open to the public on the following day. 



The new building contains five floors, of which one and the 

 greater part of another are exhibition galleries, while the 

 others are devoted to working rooms for the staff and for 

 students, and to purposes of storage. The Department of 

 Prints and Drawings has its exhibition gallery and Students' 

 Room on the upper floor, and its working rooms in part of 

 the floor below, the remainder of which is assigned to a 

 Students' Room for the Department of British and Mediaeval 

 Antiquities, and to the storage and study of Maps and Music. 

 The Ground Floor Gallery was occupied during 1914 by an 

 exhibition of the paintings, manuscripts, and miscellaneous 

 antiquities brought from Central Asia by Sir Aurel Stein, 

 but will eventually contain the Glass, Ceramic, and Mediaeval 

 collections. The Sub-Ground Floor will contain the office 

 for the receipt of publications under the Copyright Act, the 

 Newspaper Students' Room, and the storage of newspapers ; 

 while the Basement is available for purposes of storage, 

 especially of printed books. The block of building which 

 forms the connection between King Edward the Seventh's 

 Galleries and the rest of the Museum contains on the ground 

 floor a supplementary Reading Room, and on the upper floor 

 working rooms and an additional exhibition gallery for the 

 Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities. 



