1856-81 THE MUSEUM BUILT 53 
of form and surface-sculpture exemplified in the 
3-nimal and vegetable kingdoms. 
‘ I need only ask the visitor to pause at the 
grand entrance, before he passes into the impres- 
sive and rather gloomy vestibule which leads 
to the great hall, and prepares him for the 
flood of light displaying the richly-ornamented 
columns, arcades, and galleries of the Index 
l^Iuseum. 
‘ In the construction of a building for the recep- 
tion and preservation of natural history objects, 
the material should be of a nature that will least 
lend itself to the absorption and retention of 
’tioisture. This material is that artificial stone 
Called terra-cotta. The compactness of texture 
tvhich fulfils the purpose in relation to dryness is 
^Iso especially favourable for a public edifice in a 
ntetropolitan locality. The microscopic recep- 
tacles of soot-particles on the polished surface of 
the terra-cotta slabs are reduced to a minimum ; 
the inriuence of every shower in displacing those 
particles is maximised. I am sanguine in the 
expectation that the test of exposure to the Lon- 
'fon atmosphere during a period equal to that 
tvhich has elapsed since the completion of Barry’s 
richly ornamented palace at Westminster, now 
so sadly blackened by soot, will speak loudly in 
favour of Mr. Waterhouse’s adoption of the mate- 
I'ial for the construction of the National Museum 
of Natural History. A collateral advantage is 
