BRITISH MUSEUM. 11 



GENERAL PROGRESS AT THE NATURAL HISTORY 

 MUSEUM. 



The attendance of visitors at the Natural History Museum in 1928 

 showed a slight decline from the figure for the previous year, the totals 

 being 569,318 in 1927 and 567,273 in 1928. The fine weather in August 

 and September caused a reduction in the number of visitors in those 

 mo ths ; otherwise the monthly attendances were higher than in 1927. 

 Visitors on Sunday afternoons numbered 88,847 as against 79,204 in 

 1927. The number of persons who attended the demonstrations of the 

 Official Guide in 1928 was 13,826, an increase of 272 on the number, 

 13,554, for 1927. 



Dr. F. A. Bather, F.R.S., Keeper of the Department of Geology, 

 retired in February, and was succeeded by Dr. W. D. Lang. 



The Museum 



The interim report of the Royal Commission on National Museums 

 and Galleries, issued in September, expressed the view that the Museum 

 was, in its present congested condition, unable adequately to fulfil its 

 function. Immediate expenditure on new buildings was therefore 

 recommended to the amount of £123,500, also a further expenditure of 

 £124,000 upon building urgently, but less immediately, required. The 

 building which the Royal Commission consider should be undertaken 

 at once includes half of a new building for the Department of Entomo- 

 logy, half of a new Whale Gallery, and an extension of the New Spirit 

 Building. A reconstruction of part of the existing main building to 

 improve the accommodation of the Department of Geology is also 

 recommended. The less immediate portion of the Royal Commission's 

 recommendations is for the completion of a new block to the north of 

 the Museum, of which the new Whale Room will be a part. 



The Exhibition Galleries. 

 In one of the bays of the Central Hall an exhibition has been prepared 

 illustrating the work on whaling problems carried out by the Royal 

 Research Ship "Discovery". In the Zoological Department a new 

 exhibition of Polyzoa has been placed in the Starfish Gallery, and 

 several new casts have been added to the Whale Gallery. In the 

 Geological Galleries the new exhibits include a specimen of the ichthyo- 

 saur Eurhynosaurus, a cast of an embryo-bearing ichthyosaur, and a 

 supposed gigantic gastropod. An introductory series explaining the 

 nature of fossils has been completed. A small exhibit illustrating the 

 eruption of Mt. Etna m November, 1928, was set up in the Mineral 

 Gallery, near the entrance to which has been placed a case demon- 

 strating the fluorescence of minerals in ultra-violet rays. 



Revision and rearrangement was carried on as usual throughout all 

 Departments, 



The Study Collections. 



The determination and incorporation of acquisitions, the description 

 of new species, and related work, continued to occupy most of the time 

 of the scientific staff and of numerous voluntary and other unofficial 

 workers. It is opportune here to express the Trustees' sense of their 

 indebtedness to the many specialists who have given their services 

 during the year. 



