REPORT OF MUSEUM COMMITTEER*. 
1848. 
Tue British Collection presents itself under several distinct phases. 
Chronologically considered, it is necessary to discriminate between 
the zoological part of the collection and the lithological, although 
no such distinction is made in the order of Council in which the 
chronological arrangement is prescribed, in express terms at least, for 
it is obscurely indicated ; that order which bears date May 28, 1813, 
is conveyed in the following terms :—‘“‘ There shall be a collection 
of specimens illustrating the nature of the rocks and strata of the 
British Isles, to be arranged in an order corresponding to their natural 
positions, as far as such positions can be ascertained. All specimens, 
the nature or position of which are not understood, shall be placed in 
a topographical collection arranged according to countries.” 
This resolution, dated May 28th, 1813, appears however to have 
been rescinded in little more than a fortnight ; for on June 18th of 
the same year we find the following resolutions :—“ All such series 
of specimens as refer to the British Isles shall be included in the 
topographical collection, and shall be placed in that county to which 
they principally belong. 
** All series of specimens illustrative of papers published in the 
Society’s Transactions, of sections presented to the Society, or pre- 
sented as illustrating the works of an author, whether they relate to 
the British Isles or foreign countries, shall be kept entire, with the 
exception of such parts of them as may be considered superfluous by 
a committee,” &c. &c. 
These resolutions also soon ceased to be operative. The Report of 
1814, drawn up by the then Secretary, Mr. Warburton, unfolds his prin- 
ciples of arrangement, and may be taken as the groundwork of the 
plan acted upon by his successors. In 1815 the Society was informed 
that “the pledge given at the last anniversary for the arrangement 
of the collection had been in part redeemed, and that as far as the 
present state of the apartments and of the cabinet would permit, the 
English rocks, together with their fossils, had been arranged accord- 
ing to the series of the beds, in the order of superposition.”’ Upon 
the soundness of this principle, as far at least as organized bodies are 
concerned, recognized as it has been by common consent, both at 
home and abroad, the Committee are satisfied there can now be no 
difference of opinion: confining their remarks at present to that por- 
tion of the series, they would stedfastly uphold it as a principle 
* See ante, p. ii. of Annual Report. 
VOi. LV.——PART I, U 
