The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-11-08 00:00:00

THE BRITISH MUSKOX.

The removal of the Natural History collection to
south Kensington furnished facilities for increasing
the scope of the British Museum, of which the
trustees were not slow to avail themselves. The old
North Gallery, formerly tenanted by stuffed speci-
mens of fish and reptiles, has been given over to the
print department, and contains now a very fine
collection of both originals and copies of the Italian
and German masters. The series of rooms hitherto
set apart for the mineral collection now contain the
Egyptian exhibition, while in the gallery, formerly
occupied by the latter, is now to be found one of
the finest collections of Roman and Etruscan vases
extant. The long bird gallery, together with
the mammalia rooms, have been handed over
to Mr. Frank, who is hard at work arranging the
ethnographical museum. The specimens of savage
life to be here exhibited include the Esquimo collec-
tion, the entire Christie collection, transferred from
Victoria-street, and a large number of examples never
before exhibited. These recent additions to the
national collection form, however, only a tithe of the
works which have recently been completed by the
executive. The White bequest has at last fallen in.
Mr. William White, who died in 1823, left by will a
~um of £63,941 to the trustees of the Britism Museum,
the money to be made over to them on the death of
his widow. Mrs. White died in 1879, having survived
her husband 56 years. The money has been laid out
in e;ecting an entirely new wing at the Montague-
street or eastern end of the museum, and the addi-
tion of a very fine sculpture gallery at the north-west
corner, near the Elgin Marbles.
The Montague-street block, known as the White
Building, possesses a frontage of 120 ft., with a depth
of 40ft. The southern wall;measures 102, and that
on the north 80 feet. The building consists of base-
ment, ground, mezzanine, and upper floors. In its
external features it is the same as those of the ole.er
portions of the Museum, being lonic in style and
consisting entirely of stone. The architect is Mr.
John Taylor, the contractors being Messrs. John
Mowlem and Son. In the centre is an entrance
from Montague-street, which will, however, not be
available for the public. The Museum entrance
is from the present manuscript department, which
will shortly be re-arranged, the existing partitions
being doomed, in order to provide additional
accommodation for ingress and egress. The White
Building possesses a large number of exceedingly
well-planned, and, in many cases, noble apartments.
The chief features are, however, the new Manuscript
study rooms, rhe newspaper room, and the exhibition
galleries on the upper floor. The manuscript study
rooms are large and lofty, being some 100ft.in length,
and directly lighted from 413 e street. The newspaper
departmeiiit, which is to be removed here from its old
quarters below the reading-room, will be located in
two specially-built halls on the ground and basement
floors. It is intended to permit persons making re-
searches to examine the papers on the presses without
having to fill up any form or ticket as at present.
The upper floor is divided into three handsome
galleries of nearly equal size, that on the east front
measuring 111 ft. by 351 t. The galleries are all
lighted from the top, and are admirably adapted for
showing prints and pictures to the greatest advantage.
The north and east galleries will be devoted to the
exhibition of prints, while that on the south will con-
tain British antiquities, glass, and majolica.
On the north-west side of the museum is to be
found the new "mausoleum room," also erected out
of the White bequest. This room which measures
135 feet by 40 feet, is on a somewhat lower level than
the neighbouring galleries, and occupies the space
between the Elgin room and the print department.
The floor is reached by staircases from either end.
The floor is a very fine specimen of mosaic work, and
the colouring of the walls admirably adapted for
throwing out the sculptures into bold relief. The
contents of the room were excavated by Dr. C. T.
Newton, keeper of Greek antiquities from the Mau-
soleum of Harlicanassus, and are remarkable for
their power and preservation. The old mausoleum
room has been devoted to the collection of Mr. J. T.
Wood, consisting of sculptures from the Temple of
Diana at Ephesus. The work of completing the
White building is at present at a standstill, owing to
want of the necessary funds for providing presses,
furniture, &c. It is to be hoped that the money
required, however, will very shortly be forthcoming.