BRITISH MUSEUM. 



GENERAL PROGRESS AT THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM. 



The total numbpr of visitors to the Natural History Museum during 

 the year 1925 was 507,225, a decrease of 14,676 as compared with 1924, 

 entirely due to a falhng off in the attendance on Sunday afternoons, 

 which was 69,857, as against 84,844 in the previous year. The number 

 of persons present at the demonstrations of the Official Guide during 

 the year was 15,682, an increase of 1,797 on the number, 13,885, for 1924. 

 The average daily attendance for all open days was 1,397 ; for week days, 

 1,406 ; and for Sunday afternoons, 1,343. 



Courses of Swiney Lectures were delivered by Prof. W. T. Gordon 

 in February, March and April on " The Geological History of Plants," 

 and in November and December on " Geology and Civilization." The 

 average attendance was 128 per lecture for the first course and 146 for 

 the second. 



Lord Rothschild, F.R.S., and Dr. J. Waterston represented the 

 Trustees at the International Congress of Entomology at Zurich in 

 July ; Dr. W. T. Caiman, F.R.S.,"at the Annual Conference of the 

 Museums Association, in the same month, at Exeter ; Mr. M. A. C. 

 Hinton at the Congress of the Royal Sanitary Institute at Edinburgh, 

 also in July ; and Mr. R. Kirkpatrick at the Public Works Congress 

 of the British Waterworks Association held in London in November. 



The members of the Imperial Entomological Conference which met 

 in London during the summer were entertained at the Museum on 

 11 June. 



The Museum Building. 



The Central and North Halls were cleaned, and, where necessary, 

 re -decorated, during the year. The wa.shing of the painted ceilings 

 disclosed designs which had long been invisible, and was a notable 

 success. 



The Trustees have been confronted with difficult and at present 

 unsolved problems as to accommodation, the Department of Ento- 

 mology being the section of the Museum most seriously concerned. 

 The immense growth of the Insect Collections, aided by an increasing 

 realization of the economic importance of Insects, has resulted in a 

 congestion both of storage space and working room, which is a real 

 hindrance to all concerned, whether members of the staff, outside 

 scientific workers, or students. Resolutions urging the provision of 

 increased accommodation and staff were communicated to the Trustees 

 by the Imperial Entomological Congress in June, 1925, and by a 

 meeting of British Zoologists in January, 1926. In other Departments 

 further accommodation is urgently needed for the exhibition and 

 storage of whale spocimens and for the storage of fossils ; and the 

 large a,ccessions which may be expected in the near future as the result 

 of the " Discovery " Expedition and of the East Africa Expedition 

 will make the problem as acute in those Departments as it has become 

 in the Department of Entomology. This shortage of accommodation 

 acts as a direct clieck on scientific investigation, and it is therefore 

 much to be hoped that means may soon be found to provide these 

 necessary additions to the building. 



(K 2961) 



