96 ACCOUNTS, ETC., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



X. — 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 1907. 



General Progress. 



Visitors. 



The total number of visits recorded as having been made 

 by the public to the Museum during the year 1907 was 

 497,437, as compared with 472,557 in 1906 — an increase of 

 24,880. The number of visits on Sunday afternoons was 

 66,367, as against 61,151 in the previous year. 



The average daily attendance for all open days was 

 1,370 • 3 ; for week-days only, 1,386 ; and for Sunday after- 

 noons, 1,276 • 3. 



The time of closing the Museum in the latter half of 

 February has been extended from 4.30 to 5 o'clock. 



Siuiney Lectures. 



Dr. R. F. Scharff having postponed the delivery of his 

 second course of lectures on the Swiney foundation until the 

 autumn of 1908, the Trustees appointed Professor J. Cossar 

 Ewart, M.D., Edin., to be Swiney Lecturer for 1907. He 

 selected as the subject " Horses — Past and Present." The 

 lectures, twelve in number, were given in the theatre at the 

 Victoria and Albert Museum (by permission of the Board of 

 Education), in December. 



The average attendance for the course was TOO persons 

 per lecture, as compared with 160 for that of 1906. 



Electric Lighting. 



His Majesty's Office of Works has been requested to put 

 in hand the lighting of the Bird Gallery, the Fish Gallery, 

 the Central and North Halls, and the East and West Corridors 

 on the first floor, with inverted arc lamps of an approved 

 pattern. 



Heating and Ventilation. 



The scheme for heating and ventilating the Museum 

 prepared by the Chief Engineer of His Majesty's Office of 

 Works has been approved by the Trustees, and the Lords 

 Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury have agreed to 



