16 



ACCOUNTS, ETC., OF THE BllITISH MUSEUM. 



VII. — Genekal Progress at the Museum, Bloomsbury. 



The total number of visitors to the Museum in the year 

 1900 is the highest recorded since 1882, being 689,249, an 

 increase of more than 25,000 on the number reached in 

 1899, which was 663,724. 



The number of visits of students to the Keading Koom, 

 which had recently shown a tendency to decline, has also 

 risen to 198,566, as against 188,554 in 1899 ; a daily average 

 of 655. 



The average numbers of persons in the room, counted at 

 certain hours of the afternoon, were : — 



4 p.m. 

 367 



5 p.m. 

 262 



6 P.M. 



170 



6.30 P.M. 

 95 



7 P.M. 



103 



7.30 P.M. 



74 



The number of volumes, &c. supplied to readers in the 

 year was 1,336,147 as against 1,306,078 in 1899. 



There has also been a considerable addition to the total 

 number of visits of students to the several Departments 

 other than the Reading Room, amounting to 56,043, as against 

 49,422 in 1899, due to a larger use of the Newspaper Room. 



In order to obtain a higher water pressure on the fire 

 extinguishing service new rising mains and larger mains on 

 the roofs have been fitted, from which, with the aid of a 

 steam fire-engine, water can be thrown over the dome of the 

 Reading Room, the highest portion of the Museum buildings. 

 The standard engines on the roofs are thus superseded. 



Improvement in the American Koom has been efi'ected by 

 building up the windows in the northern and eastern walls 

 and by inserting a skylight the full length of the roof. This 

 work completes the alterations of this character which have 

 been carried out during recent years in the suite of rooms on 

 the northern side of the Upper Floor, in which are exhibited 

 Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and American Antiquities. 

 The introduction of light from skylights instead of from side 

 windows is of the greatest advantage for the better exhibi- 

 tion of the objects ; and there has been considerable gain of 

 space for additional wall-cases. 



The Asiatic Saloon, in which the collection of oriental 

 porcelain is exhibited, has also been greatly improved by 

 inserting additional skylights, and by replacing the obsolete 

 wall-cases with new ones of better design. 



The construction of a gallery, fitted with wall-cases, in the 

 Prehistoric Saloon, creates room for the expansion and better 

 exhibition of the collections. 



