MUSEUM REPORT. CXXxl 
The following reports from Mr. Lonsdale and Prof. Forbes to the 
Committee appointed in December 1845 to report on alterations to be 
made in the plan of the Museum, have been ordered to be printed 
with the preceding Report :— 
From Mr. Lonsdale. 
In compliance with a request conveyed to me by a member of the 
Museum Committee, I beg with all deference to state, in reply to the 
points alluded to in the note with which I have been honoured, that 
I conceive the maintaining and the perfecting, as far as possible, of 
the British and Irish collections, to be the primary obligation of the 
Society as respects its Museum, and for the followimg reasons :— 
Ist. Because the British collections already in the possession of the 
Society are of great scientific value, constituting the most important 
portions of the Museum, and, taken as a whole, being unequalled. 
2ndly. That Foreigners resort to the Society’s Museum for the 
purpose of examining the British series, not only for the sake of 
comparison with the equivalent formations in their own country, but 
also to prepare themselves for proposed practical researches. Several 
instances of this previous study occurred during the period’I had the 
honour of being connected with the Society. It may be farther stated, 
that Fellows resident in London have been in the habit of examining 
local series before they visited the districts composed of such forma- 
tions. 
3rdly. The liberal principles on which the Society was founded, 
and has been maintained by successive Councils, have permitted a 
Fellow to borrow specimens for comparison and attentive study at his 
own residence. The importance of this privilege cannot be too highly 
estimated, as the information to be obtamed from examining speci- 
mens in a public Museum is far inferior to that which may be ac- 
quired by research conducted with full leisure and undisturbed atten- 
tion ; it is also only by repeated comparisons, as fresh light is thrown 
upon a subject, that an identification can be established or a distinc- 
tion fully proved. The great liberality of the College of Surgeons in 
affording access to its Museum, and the extreme willingness of its 
officers to assist Inquirers, render that fine collection of the greatest 
value to the student of organic remains ; and the ready access afforded 
by the officers of the British Museum to the cases or cabinets under 
their care, as well as the promptness with which information is com- 
municated, could not be farther extended. The same spirit pervades 
other public or metropolitan institutions ; in no one, however, can 
Fellows of the Geological Society enjoy the privilege of resorting 
daily and without application to any cabinet or drawer; much less 
can the loan of specimens be obtained. The facilities for studying 
the collection supplied by the Library could not be enjoyed else- 
where ; and the usefulness of the Library would be essentially dimi- 
nished without the British series. 
4thly. The Geological Society enacts its own bye-laws, and elects its 
own executive body, chosen from among the Fellows most intimately 
