8 



utmost. The north side of the upper floor being 

 the only one now provided with windows, the 

 ventilation of all the public apartments- on that 

 floor depends in a great measure on those win- 

 dows. Provision, therefore, will have to be made, 

 before they are closed up, for securing the ven- 

 tilation throughout the whole of the upper floor. 



This seems to be the proper place to notice 

 the scheme of building studies, not only for the 

 oflicers, but for the assistants also in the Geolo- 

 gical and Mineralogical Departments. On this 

 subject, the Principal Librarian begs to refer the 

 Trustees to a letter of Mr. Smirke to Sir H. 

 Ellis, dated the 14th of February, 185^. That 

 letter, inserted in a subsequent part of this re- 

 port, was laid before Parliament on the 80th 

 of June, 185^. 



It has been represented that the new Keeper 

 of Mineralogy will require facilities for submit- 

 ting minerals to some chemical tests and analyses. 

 If so, special provision must be made for aflbrding 

 to that officer this additional accommodation. 



In connection with the subject of space it may 

 be important to consider how room is to be pro- 

 vided, should it be decided that lectures be de- 

 livered at the British Museum. The delivery of 

 lectures is a duty imposed on the Superintendent 

 of the Department of Natural History, who, last 

 year, delivered a course at the Museum of Prac- 

 tical Geology in Jermyn Street. The question 



