Williams, The two last-named were geologists with broad interests, 
and Dr. Williams, who now lives in Vancouver, is still active in 
scientific and museum work. During the twenties and thirties the 
Saturday morning children’s lecture was usually a condensed and 
simplified version of the lecture to be given to the adults on the 
following Wednesday evening. Later, programmes specially prepared 
for children were included, with a resultant increase in attendance. 
The Museum and Geological Survey staffs still supplied most of the 
lecturers, but as time went on, more and more speakers from other 
Departments of Government or from outside the Public Service 
took part. One of the ordeals of the lecturers in those days was 
the acoustics of the hall. Its semi-circular form seemed to throw the 
speaker’s voice back at him and to garble the words that followed. 
The effect was aggravated by temporary partitions that closed off 
the areas under the balcony to provide storage and working space. 
In 1936 an acoustical study of the hall was made by scientists 
of the National Research Council. Following their recommendations, 
drapes and acoustical tile were installed. The partitions under the 
balcony were removed, and the projection equipment was provided 
with a fireproof booth. A second 35-mm projector was added, and a 
dissolving-view lantern slide projector was improvised by an ingeni- 
ous mechanical superintendent, Gavin Barrowman. By 1936 a 16-nun 
projector for sound and silent film was installed, and sound was 
incorporated into the 35-mm equipment. Later, a second 16-mm 
sound projector was added. Progressive modernization of the equip- 
ment has been continued to the present, and recently this has been 
placed under the care of a full-time professional operator. It has 
been found necessary to retain some of the older equipment to permit 
showing of the early silent films at the correct speed of 16 frames 
per second. 
When the Museum was renovated in preparation for the Geo- 
logical Society of America meeting, the lecture hall was greatly 
improved. More comfortable seats were installed on both ground 
floor and balcony, and new drapes were hung. Today the hall is in 
frequent use by scientific, educational, and cultural organizations, 
whose meetings and film showings can be held here at no charge 
except the projectionist’s fee. The Museum’s own lecture series is 
still well attended, in spite of the counter attractions of motion pic- 
tures, television, and other lectures. The Saturday morning children’s 
programme is now made up almost entirely of special lectures and 
film showings (Fig. 22). 
33 
