8 



INTRODUCTION. 



between the Horticultural Gardens and Cromwell Road. It 

 was at one time thought that a portion, at any rate, of the 

 Exhibition buildings could with advantage have been con- 

 verted into a Museum of Natural History. Parliament, how- 

 ever, decided against the preservation of any part of these 

 buildings, and they were accordingly entirely removed. 



" In designing the present building, Captain Fowke's original 

 idea of employing terracotta was always kept in view, though 

 the blocks were reduced in size, so' as to obviate, as far as 

 possible, the objection to the employment of this material, 

 arising from its liability to twist in burning. For this and 

 other reasons the architect abandoned the idea of a Renais- 

 sance building, and fell back on the earlier Romanesque style 

 which prevailed largely in Lombardy and the Rhineland from 

 the tenth to the end of the twelfth century. 



"In 1873 a contract was entered into by the Government 

 with Messrs. George Baker and Sons of Lambeth for the 

 erection of the building at a cost of £352,000. Other sub- 

 sequent contracts have been entered into by the Treasury, 

 especially one for the erection of the towers, which in the 

 first instance it was decided to omit. 



" On looking at the exterior of the building, one of the first 

 points which strikes a spectator is that the site is lower than 

 the street. This arises from the fact that the whole surface 

 of the ground between the three roads was excavated for the 

 Exhibition building of 1862, and it was not thought desir- 

 able, for economical considerations, to refill the space. The 

 building is set back 100 feet from the Cromwell Road, and is 

 approached by two inclined planes, curved on plan and sup- 

 ported by arches, forming carriage-ways. Between the two 

 are broad flights of Craigleith stone steps, for the use of 

 those approaching the building on foot. The extreme length 

 of the front is 675 feet, and the height of the towers is 192 

 feet. 



"The return fronts east and west beyond: the end 

 pavilions have not been erected. 



" On entering the main portal, the visitor has before him the 

 great central apartment of the Museum (170 feet long x 97 

 feet wide and 72 feet high), which it is intended to use 



