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 LONDON 605 society." The society removed in 1856 from the Somerset to the Burlington house. This so- ciety must not be confounded with the royal in- stitution of Great Britain in Albemarle street, comprising a library, reading and lecture rooms, and chairs of chemistry and other sciences. It was founded in 1800 through the influence of Sir Joseph Banks, and Count Rumford was its earliest promoter. The weekly courses of lectures throughout the season, on chemical science, philosophy, physiology, and other de- partments of science, literature, and art, have powerfully promoted the progress of knowl- edge; and eminent persons deliver popular lectures on Friday evenings, to which non-sub- scribers are admitted upon tickets signed by members. Members are elected by ballot, and a two-thirds majority is required for admis- sion. Sir Humphry Davy made here some of his great discoveries, by the aid of the extensive galvanic apparatus of the establishment. Its renown in the present century was brilliant- ly sustained and increased by Faraday, and its master spirit at the present time is Prof. Tyn- dall. The British museum, with its reading rooms, library, and art treasures, has a world- wide reputation. (See BEITISH MUSEUM.) The South Kensington museum in Brompton, a mile from Hyde park corner, was projected in 1852 by Prince Albert, and built upon a site purchased with the surplus fund of the exhibi- tion of 1851, as a national museum of art, and of manufactures allied to art. It was finished in 1858; a new museum for mediaeval and modern art and for a depository of articles loaned for exhibition was added in 1869, the latter filling two large glazed courts and other divisions ; and two architectural courts were opened in 1873. The museum contains schools of art (a branch of the government department of science and art), of music, and other branch- es of knowledge, and magnificent collections of oriental and naval articles, of armor, regalia, and relics, of porcelain and enamels, and of a great diversity of skilful and ingenious fabrics, which are all grouped in separate courts, gal- leries, and cloisters. The picture galleries in- clude the Vernon and Sheepshanks collections of British works of art, which belong to the national gallery, the cartoons of Raphael for- merly at Hampton court, the renowned Dutch and Flemish pictures belonging to Mrs. Hope, and other fine paintings. The compartment of sculptures and antiquities contains Italian and other masterpieces, wood carvings, majolica, ivories, &c. ; and there are many displays of metallic and various other works interesting io manufacturers. A temporary museum of patents is filled with machines and models, and contains the portraits of distinguished in- ventors. The art library has over 30,000 works, including many richly illustrated; and there are reading and dining rooms and many other conveniences in the buildings. The number of visitors from the opening down to September, 1874, was over 3,000,000. Admission is free half the week, and the price on other days is only Qd. This museum is the most important nucleus in England for the diffusion of varied information in relation to art, science, manu- factures, and almost every kind of tasteful and skilful handicraft. No less than 180,000 wosks were sent to it for competition at the examination of 1874 from the various schools of art in the country. Adjoining the museum is the Royal Albert hall or South Kensington amphitheatre, opened March 29, 1871. It is devoted to exhibitions of industry and art and to music, and with its beautiful oval form and external frieze and cornice, modelled after the Elgin marbles, it is at the present day the most magnificent palace of art in the world. Opposite to it are the new and interesting gardens of the horticultural society. All around the museums are groups of new build- ings for schools of science, and the number of institutions connected with them is in- creasing not only in this vicinity but in re- moter rural districts. The East Indian mu- seum, India office, is remarkable for its col- lections relating to the arts, manufactures, ar- mor, and natural productions of India, and for its antiquities and historical relics. The Uni- ted Service museum, Whitehall, is a repository of objects of art and science and of books relating to the army and navy, of the arctic relics of Sir John Franklin, and of military and naval trophies ; and lectures are given in it. The royal school of mines and museum of practical geology, in Jermyn street, dates from 1835, and a new and handsome building was opened in 1851. Lectures are delivered here to working men illustrative of the extensive mineralogical collections. The museum of the society of antiquaries, Somerset house, and the new museum, guildhall, contain interest- ing antiquarian collections. A natural history museum is in course of construction after the designs of the architect Waterhouse, on the site of the old exhibition building of 1862, to be completed in 1876, and to consist of a great central hall 170 ft. long and 97 ft. wide, and of various galleries and other divisions. The principal front of the edifice is to be con- structed of terra cotta and 675 ft. long. A lofty tower and other ornaments have been abandoned to reduce the cost from 500,000 to 350,000. The Soane museum, Lincoln's Inn Fields, was built in 1812 under the direc- tion of Sir John Soane, and contains 24 rooms, with Egyptological collections and many re- markable relics, and Hogarth's "Rake's Pro- gress " and other celebrated works of art. The new museum in Bethnal Green is numerously attended by the working classes. Prominent among the institutes is that for architects. The polytechnic institution is a favorite resort for popular scientific entertainments and in- struction, and contains collections of machi- nery and models and lecture rooms, which are open daily. The national gallery of paintings of all schools, Trafalgar square, was comple-