§ 42 and 68. Mr. BENNETT-GOLDNEYasked the Secretary to the Treasury (1) if he will ascertain from the keeper of the prints and the keeper of British and mediæval antiquities if they are satisfied with the arrangements made for the exhibition of the works of art in their departments as regards space and position of cases and as regards light; if such arrangements have been found to be defective, whether steps are being taken to remedy them; and (2) if he is now in a position to say which of the keepers of the collections to be housed in the new building of the British Museum were consulted before the plans were passed and the building begun; if he will ascertain whether any of the keepers were shown any of the proposed plans before the building was built; whether any of them were asked to send in reports as to their special requirements as to space, arrangement of cases, and lighting; and if the keepers of the different collections have, since they have seen the accommodation provided for the collections, expressed their satisfaction or their disapproval?
§ Mr. MONTAGUI cannot undertake to obtain the opinions of individual officers in the employment of the Trustees of the British Museum, and can add nothing to my answer of the 17th February last.
§ 43. Mr. BENNETT-GOLDNEYasked what structural use the wooden columns in the new buildings of the British Museum allocated to the librarian's department are serving; what is the diameter of these wooden space-occupying features of decoration; and whether they are fireproof?
Mr. BENNIt is assumed that the columns referred to are those in the north library. They carry the weight of the galleries above. Their diameter is 2 ft. 9 in. They are not made of wood, and are of fireproof construction.
§ 44. Mr. BENNETT-GOLDNEYasked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will ascertain whether the bookshelves fitted in the new buildings of the British Museum are fireproof; whether these new shelves are of metal like the bookshelves in the older portions of the library and like all modern bookcases in all famous American and Continental public libraries; and, if the new cases and shelves are not of metal, why metal has been discarded in 1488 the British Museum for an inflammable material?
§ Mr. MONTAGUThe bookshelves in the parts of the new buildings allotted to book storage are of metal, so far as they have yet been provided, and will be wholly so. In the room which connects the old buildings with the new they are of wood as in the older portions of the library.