BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY). 96 



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 1904. 



General Progress. 

 Visitors. 



The total number of visits paid by the public to the 

 galleries of the Natural History Museum during the year 

 was 470,557, as compared with 486,733 in 1903, a decrease 

 of 16,176. On Sunday afternoons 60,909 visits were recorded, 

 as against 63,188 in 1903. 



The average daily attendance for all open days during the 

 year was 1,289 • 2 ; for week-days only, it was 1,308 • 7, and 

 for Sunday afternoons, 1,171 '3. 



Electric Light. 



Further progress has been made with the installation of 

 the electric light throughout the building, as far as the 

 limited amount (5001.) provided in Class I. of the Estimates 

 would allow. Nearly all the remaining studies and workrooms 

 and the Centra] and North Halls have been experimentally 

 lighted, and trials are in progress with a view to ascertain 

 the best method of lighting the side galleries. 



Swiney Lectures. 



Following the usual custom of recent years, Dr. J. S. Flett 

 delivered his fourth annua] course of Swiney Lectures on 

 Geology in the autumn, commencing on 7th November and 

 finishing on 2nd December, his subject on this occasion being 

 " Geology : the Record and its Interpretation." The lectures, 

 twelve in number, were delivered in the theatre of the 

 Victoria and Albert Museum, by permission of the Board of 

 Education, and were attended by an average of 248 persons 

 per lecture, as compared with 299 in 1903. 



Dr. Flett has been appointed Swiney Lecturer again for 

 the year 1905, and the Trustees have approved his proposal 

 to take as the subject of the course of lectures in that year 

 " The Geological History of the British Isles." 



national Antarctic Expedition. 



The natural history collections made by the Discovery 

 Antarctic Expedition have been received at the Museum, and 



