XXIV 
INTRODUCTION. 
value set upon them by experienced dealers in 
the different branches,, when the House of Com¬ 
mons called for such an estimate, with a view to 
remit the Legacy-tax upon the whole bequest. # 
S Banks ph ^o mus * added the name of 
the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, Bart, K. B., 
who, after his return from his circumnaviga¬ 
tion, deposited at different times in the Mu¬ 
seum numerous collections of natural and arti¬ 
ficial curiosities from the newly discovered islands 
in the South Seas, which, with considerable 
additions since made by the Admiralty, CapL 
Cook, and other officers who have since perform¬ 
ed similar distant and perilous voyages, forms now 
one of the most conspicuous parts of the Museum* 
Among the many donations of various kinds which 
Sir Joseph Banks has since bestowed, and still 
continues to confer upon the Establishment, we 
must 
* This valuation is as follows: 
Printed books ....... 
Coins and Medals 
Prints .. 
Shells and Minerals, 
Gems,,.. ............. 
^ 10,000 
6,000 
5,000 
2,000 
500 
Total 
.€23,500 
