The Express.
London, England, 1868-03-10 00:00:00

THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

Ix 1860 a select committee was appointed to
consider the best method of providing additional
space for the various collections of the British
Museum, and a very bulky blue-book contains the
details of the investigation. The result at which
the committee arrived was that it would be ad-
visable to retain all the collections under one roof,
land they suggested the purchase of about five acres
of land in the vicinity of the present building. Since,
that time, although other proposals more or leas'
feasible have been made, nothing has been done, and
the evil has reached such a pitch that while we are
adding daily to our treasures we are forced to stow
them away in dark corners for lack of room. The
wealth of the British Museum is inestimable, but
it is also invisible. The proportion that we see
is, in some departments at least, but trifling com-
pared with the amount that is hidden. Think of
six hundred drawers of insects and only three
visible ; . think of more than 100,000 speci-
mens added to Professor °west's depart-
ment in one year, and only 6,000 of these
specimens open to inspection ; think of the
horrible sheds which deform the front of the
building, crowded with precious works of art ;
think of the excavations now going on in different
parts of the world for the purpose of disinterring
treasures which will be brought up to the light, only
that they may be a second time interred in the
caverns and tombs of Bloomsbury-street ; think
how, according to the Qgarterly Perim, the officers
of the Museum are so cabined for space that they
cannot have the number of assistants they require !
Remember too that we are not only obliged to
take lodgings for the bookbinders, and other work-
men, but also to rent apartments in Westminster
for the extensive collections bequeathed by Mr.
CHRISTIE—and then say whether we can afford to
delay any longer the needed reform?
MR. DISRAELI has, we believe, promised to
bring forward a measure during the present year
which may relieve the plethora under which the
museum is labouring, and it is generally supposed
and feared that the Government will suggest
removing the natural history collections to the
waste and unexplored regions of Kensington.
Meanwhile Mr. C. TENNANT, of Russell-square, in
a letter to a contemporary has suggested a plan
which is likely b startle numerous officials. It
is, to say the least, • bold proposition, and yet
reasonable enough to be worthy of discussion.
Why, he asks, should we not remove our natural
history departments to Somerset House—a noble
building in a central position, and at the disposal
of Parliament ? And he proposes to form a
magnificent street from Bloomsbury-street to the
Strand, so as to create a link between the
two buildings. Moreover, Mr. Tesxasv would
cover the vast central court of Somerset
House with a lofty canopy of glass, and place
beneath it the architectural remains and speci-
men of colossal sculpture which now occupy so
much space in the Museum. Of course, the bril-
liancy of the suggestion will be of little avail,
unless it can be proved that it is a judicious and
an ee montical suggestion also. One thing is evi-
dent, that whether this original scheme be possible
or not, there must be nu further delay in the settle-
ment of the matter.