The formation of the special collections has been continued and there are now 132 of these available for temporary loan to schools as against 115 in 1926. Eighty-seven such loans were issued to art schools, 10 to training colleges, and 56 to secondary schools, an increase of 23 on the previous year.

2. The Bethnal Green Museum.

247. The number of visitors to the Bethnal Green Museum during the year was 367,435, made up as follows:-Weekdays, 207,761 ; evenings, 8,753; Sundays, 150,921. This shows a decrease of 18,273 from the total figures for 1926.

248. The general re-arrangement of the Museum was continued during the year. New cases were fitted along the south side of the eastern half of the Central Court (Room 3) for the extension of the collection of birds, which was augmented by a considerable gift from Mrs. J. F. Green, in memory of her late husband's devotion to the study of birds and bird life; and by the preparation and mounting of a hundred further British and foreign specimens. Several new cases were also added to the Textile Gallery (Rooms 12-14), and a start was made in the transfer of a large portion of the collection of 19th century costumes from the Victoria and Albert Museum.

249. In accordance with the decision to make the collections at Bethnal Green largely representative of 19th century art, many pieces of furniture and woodwork dating from 1800 onwards were transferred from the main collections. The complete process of selection and rearrangement in pursuance of this plan will naturally take some little time, since it has to be extended to all classes of object in the Museum. Attention was given first to furniture, as this subject is one of great local importance; for furniture-making is a staple industry of the neighbourhood surrounding the Museum, no less than 12,000 people being employed in its various branches at the present time throughout Bethnal Green and Shoreditch.

250. Seven cases of Indian and other oriental metalwork were placed upon exhibition in the Upper Gallery (Rooms 21 and 22), in response to a demand for further examples of eastern art which followed the withdrawal of the Curzon Collection; and a group of English and Continental metalwork of the 19th century was arranged in the Central Court.

An exhibition of drawings and paintings by members of the Bethnal Green Art Club was opened by Lord Burnham on 11th April, and remained open for four weeks.

251. Two hundred and fourteen educational visits were made to the Museum during the year from schools, mostly in East London, with a total of 5,099 scholars and 244 teachers. Of this number, (31652)

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2,317 scholars, accompanied by 95 teachers, attended lectures provided by the Museum; 1,300 scholars, with 73 teachers, came to paint, draw, or model from Museum objects; and 1,466 scholars, accompanied by 95 teachers, paid ordinary school study visits. The Museum lectures, which attracted the largest class of school visit, were on subjects selected by head teachers from a limited list submitted to them; and of the 86 chosen subjects, 52 related to technique and craftsmanship, 20 to history as illustrated by objects of art, and 14 to appreciation of art.

3. The Science Museum.

252. By the end of 1927 the eastern block of the new Museum buildings had been handed over and occupied.

The opening ceremony was graciously performed by Your Majesty, accompanied by Her Majesty the Queen, on Tuesday, 20th March, 1928, and will be fully described in our next report. This marks the completion of the first stage in the replacement of the old buildings of the Exhibition of 1862, in which the Science Collections have been for sixty years past, by modern galleries designed for Museum purposes. The area of exhibition galleries which is now available amounts to 190,000 sq. ft., or about double that which was in use in 1913. This additional area has been utilised to develop all branches of the collections on schemes which have been carefully worked out so that important advances in development are represented, and accumulation of objects of minor importance is avoided. During the last seven years over 10,000 objects have been added to the collections, all of which have been selected as falling within the approved schemes of development. In the new galleries which look upon Exhibition Road, the ship and boat model collections are being arranged to illustrate effectively the various stages which have been passed in the development from the raft or dug-out to the modern liner.

253. The increase in the number of visitors which was reported for 1926 has been well maintained, and the number for 1927 was 709,166 or 132,432 more than in 1926. On 3rd August, a bank holiday, 18,841 visitors entered the Museum. The lectures of the Official Guide Lecturer have been well attended, about 6,500 visitors having availed themselves of them.

The number of school parties visiting the Museum was 306, the number of students in them being 8,373. Of these parties, 109 asked for the services of a lecturer, which is double the number for the previous year and there is every indication that this type of assistance to school parties is much appreciated, and that demands for it will continue to increase. There is no doubt that the Collections are being increasingly used for instruction by schools as well as by technical visitors and by the general public.

254. The acquisitions received during the year numbered 2,138, of which 65 per cent. were loans and 25 per cent. were gifts. They included five aeroplane engines and seven aeroplane models presented by the Italian Government, the original Mass Spectrograph of Dr. F. W. Aston, F.R.S., two locomotive engine models, and many other important objects. The after portion of the T.S. “Turbinia with her turbine engines, which had been presented by Messrs. C. Parsons and Co., was brought down and placed in the Museum by the firm.

255. The biological collections of the Museum which were formerly used by the Royal College of Science, have of late years been consulted less and less by visitors and although they were overhauled and re-arranged as an elementary teaching collection a few years ago, they have been but little used. The Board, therefore decided to remove them from the Science Museum and the objects have been transferred to the Imperial College of Science and Technology, to the National Museum of Wales and to other institutions.

256. The British Woollen and Worsted Research Association, and the British Non-ferrous Metal Research Association, prepared exhibitions of the results of their recent research work which were on view for four months in the galleries of the Museum. They aroused much interest among the general public as well as in technical circles. The National Physical Laboratory also exhibited results of recent research in several departments during the summer and autumn. These also attracted much attention. No other exhibitions of this kind took place in 1927 on account of the large amount of work which had to be done in connection with taking over the new eastern galleries. It is hoped to resume them in 1928.

A special exhibition of photographs, maps, diagrams, etc., was prepared to illustrate solar eclipses and particularly that of 29th June, 1927. It remained on view until the autumn and aroused very considerable interest.

257. The practice of lending books and periodicals from the Science Library not only to Departments but also to members of Institutions, Associations and Societies engaged in research, has proved to be very useful to scientific workers. In 1926, the year in which the experiment was first tried, these loans amounted to 4,304, and in 1927 they increased to 5,131.

During the past year the Library has acquired a large collection of classified references to books and articles on all branches of science. and technology. By incorporating this with the bibliographical references which the Library already possessed it has been possible to form a Subject-Matter Index, covering nearly all that has been published in Science and Applied Science since 1902. This collection

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of references, which numbers about a million and a quarter cards classified and arranged, should greatly facilitate work in research and save much time that would otherwise be occupied in looking up the results obtained by other workers in the same field. This index is now available for use by the public, and a large number of enquiries have already been received and dealt with by its aid. It should be of especial value to research workers overseas where library resources are often inadequate.

EUSTACE PERCY,
President.

KATHARINE ATHOLL,

Parliamentary Secretary.

AUBREY V. SYMONDS,

Permanent Secretary.

30th April, 1928.

APPENDIX I.

1. LIST, GIVEN IN PURSUANCE OF SECTION 48 OF THE EDUCATION ACT, 1921, OF BYELAWS SANCTIONED BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION BETWEEN THE 1st August, 1926, and the 31st December, 1927, INCLUSIVE.

(c) Denotes byelaws which include the provision as to the exemption of certain children from attendance during religious instruction.