16 



ACCOUNTS, ETC., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



VIII. — General Progress at the Museum, Bloomsbury. 



It was noticed in last year's return that the number of 

 visits to the Museum which was recorded for 1901 had 

 reached a total of 718,614, and that the figures had thu^ 

 been restored to the range to which they had attained before 

 the removal of the Natural History Collections. In 1902 

 the total was 845,369, showing the remarkable increase of 

 126,755 on that of the preceding year. This high figure is 

 no doubt partly due to the occurrence of the Coronation, 

 which brought a large influx of visitors into London ; but 

 there is reason to believe that under normal conditions the 

 steady increase of recent) years would still have been main- 

 tained. The number of visits on week-days rose from 

 669,719, recorded in 1901, to 786,850, and those on Sundays 

 from 48,895 to 58,519. 



The number of visits of students to the Reading Room 

 in 1902 was 211,244, being an increase of 11,209 on the total 

 of 1901 ; a daily average of 699. 



The average number of persons in the room, counted at 

 the later hours of the afternoon, were : — 



h P.M. 



372 



5 P.M. 



267 



) P.M. 



165 



6.30 P.M. 



72 



7 P.M. 



102 



7.30 P.M. 

 70 



In the several Departments other than the Reading Room 

 the total number of visits has been 56,438, as against 57,943 

 in 1901, there having been a reduction of nearly two thousand 

 visits in the Newspaper Room which was in some measure 

 compensated for by an increase of one thousand in the Print 

 Room. 



The Egyptian Galleries of Sculptures on the ground floor 

 have been re-painted and re-decorated, principally on the 

 lines of the well-executed decoration originally applied to 

 the walls and ceilings when the galleries were built ; but 

 modified by the introduction of white in the wall -spaces 

 flanking the windows, in order to secure better lighting for 

 the exhibits. 



The re-arrangement of the Egyptian Antiquities, the 

 Oriental Porcelain, and the Prehistoric Antiquities, necessi- 

 tated by the refitting of the Third Egyptian Room and the 

 Asiatic Saloon with new wall-cases and the structural alter- 

 ations in the Prehistoric Saloon, is now practically complete. 



