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THE BRITISH MUSEUM AND THE PROVINCIAL INSTITUTIONS.

interferes with speaking, they are precisely in the reverse condition; when they sound a particular note, they feel there is something playing and working on the mouth, a me'chanical power preventing the emission of the tone they wish to introduce; in some rooms, many of which I have been in, if any one stand in a particular position, the voice is returned to the focus if they are placed in it, and they feel as if some one were actually knocking them on the mouth. In one of the reflectors they use in a chapel, which I had 'been invited to examine, a preacher went up one day who had accidentally not been in'formed of its peculiarities; there was not only a focus for the emission; but also for 'the reception of sound, and when he had said two or three words he suddenly turned 'round, believing some one was mocking him, but it was only the reflected sound of his own voice, which sounded loudly to him, but înaudible to any other person. In the adaptation of these parabolic reflectors, any part of the audience excluded from its influence hear as ill as the others hear well.

You would not think it advisable to place the Speaker within a chair with a parabolic sounding-board ?—I should think it unnecessary with that construction of building; and it would, to a certain extent, be liable to the objections mentioned.

Would it or would it not be desirable to · maintain, as nearly as possible, a unity of atmosphere in the room, with reference to spund, quite apart from ventilation ?-I consider that one of the primary objects of attention, but to what extent that does ac'tually interfere with sound, I am at a loss to say; it is admitted on all hands, and it is known that in an apartment, even a small apartment, we often have different strata of air, and the sound in passing from one to another is much affected in the same manner as light; thus, when we look at any object on the wall through a current of warm air, as when the sun is shining on any building, a current of warm air from a chimney being interposed between us and it, we see the tremulous motion of the air indicated by the unequal reflection of the light upon the wall; so in the same manner, I believe, that when sound passes through different strata of air, a similar disturbance induced, but preventing it from being so clear and uniform as is de*sirable.

Would you positively interdict the use of drapery, particularly round about the windows or the cornices?-I should not consider it necessary to interdict the use of drapery; but whenever there was a powerful reflecting surface, and it was required to take advantage of that surface, then the drapery ought not to be used.

You would not interdict drapery on the side walls, but you would from the windows above? From the roof, or from whatever part we wish a reflecting power.

As to the smaller rooms connected with the House of Commons, you would scarcely propose to alter the ordinary ceiling, perhaps? It would not be so necessary as in the larger apartment for the meeting of the House; but the same remarks, it must be remembered, apply to both. There is a great harshness and indistinctness often communicated to the voice, even in small rooms, and it is remarkable how sensitive some people are to the manner in which sound affects them. I have been in some rooms, where it was impossible to converse even with a moderate party, unless with a considerable effort from the power of reverberation. I have been in rooms where there were alcoves at one end, and whenever any individual happened to sing in a particular position it made a great difference in the voice, and on trying it experimentally, a number of persons going to a distance and shutting their eyes, while one individual, trying the experiment, walked across the room, while speaking. I have seen the others raise their hands whenever he came to a particular part, indicating the change which they all perceived. The power of the voice may perhaps be such as not to make it a matter of great consequence in these small rooms; but yet there is a very great difference in the unity and pleasantness in the tone of voice in different rooms, according to the form. I may state with reference to the same subject, there is a room not larger than some of the Committee rooms may be, in which it was found almost impossible to carry on a school from the amount of reverberation, and when any individual sounded any note in a prolonged voice, it was quite like the sound of a trumpet, it was continued so long after he had ceased; that room was about forty-eight feet long, twenty or thirty broad, and sixteen high. The roof was arehed, but the curve was not great. It was improved very much by suspending curtains and drapery from the cornice.

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Sir, I am sorry to be obliged to appear pertinacious in opposition to so very polite an antagonist as your correspondent, S. S.; but, to say the truth, it appears to me that, by the list of literary Institutions he has furnished to your last Number, he has completely established my case instead of his own. If the Aberbrothiek Subscription Library, the Bur

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much for the publicity; as to the permanency of such establishments, surely none need bid fairer to bloom and flourish than the Surrey Institution in the Rotunda, near Blackfriars' Bridge, some years ago; and yet has it not long given way to the Rev. Robert Taylor, the waxwork, the wild beasts, and one knows not what else? Besides, the list given by S. S. is not that primarily selected by the Record Commission for the reception of its favours. In a return to an order of the House of Commons in February, 1822, there is a "List of Public Libraries and Repositories to which the Distribution of Works printed under the Record Commission is limited," or just then was limited, in which not more than two or three of those mentioned by S. S. are included. This list, of course, takes the precedence when any privilege is in question; and I hope, for the honour of S. S.'s consistency, to find him in some future letter advocating the propriety of bestowing duplicates on the Library of Doctors' Commons, on the King's Remembrancer's Office in the Exchequer, on the Auditors of the Land Revenue, and the Town Clerk's Office, city of London-or, to quit the metropolis, on the Episcopal Library of Worcester at Hartlebury, and a number of other deadalive repositories" of the same kind, which, of course, since thus patronised, must be public and permanent.

slem Subscription Library, and all the whole bead-roll of Subscription Libraries, are to be considered "public and permanent Literary Institutions, and as such entitled to receive duplicates from the British Museum," I would advise Mr. Bull, of Holles-street, Mr. Horne, of Cheapside, and all the other proprietors of circulating-libraries about town, to bring their claims under the notice of Parliament without further delay. It would, I feel sure, excite about as much surprise in the librarian to one of these local and private establishments for a stranger to walk into their rooms and set about availing himself of his right to examine the Records, as it would, in one of these London caterers to the public, for a person to take up a novel from his counter and propose reading it through—free, gratis, for nothing. It seems, indeed, from S. S.'s statement, that the condition on which the Records were presented was, that they should be accessible to any person without difficulty; but I, for one, should not like to be the unfortunate wight compelled to bring this circumstance to the recollection of the librarians. At an establishment of the kind which I frequent (the London Institution, in Moorfields) there is a complete set of the Commissioners' Records presented by them, but though on the back of the titlepage of each volume there is a printed notice, that in the event of the dissolution of the Association, the books are to be The only proposal which can, I think, returned to the Secretary of State for the be seriously supported for the disposal of Home Department-which shows that the Museum duplicates, would be to prethe establishment is not looked upon as sent them to the Trinity College Library necessarily "permanent"-I have never of Dublin (which, in that case, ought to observed any thing to intimate that the be rendered more accessible)-and if that donation has the effect of rendering the were in possession of them, to the Advolibrary a whit more "public" than it was cates' Library at Edinburgh, which is before-that is, not at all. Such is the said to be accessible enough-and so on practice of the case, at all events, if not to the Bodleian at Oxford, and the Pubthe theory; and if it were not, I suspect lic Library at Cambridge. All these lithe Commissioners would have had a few braries ought, in return, to be bound to waggon-loads of their ponderous publica- offer their duplicates to the rest in the tions returned on their hands. But even same succession, beginning with the Muif we grant that this right of inspecting seum; and any work that was found to the Record donations were in full exer- exist in them all, might be put up for cise, how can this circumstance be said sale without any compunctious visitings to render the Institution generally "pub- of conscience. Perhaps, however, it lic," any more than an occasional per- might be advisable to place second in the mission for a stranger to inspect the Court list a large public library, to be founded Guide or London Directory at the circu- in London, to consist entirely of duplilating-libraries aforesaid, would confer cates of works in the Museum, and to be on them a right to a term now proposed open to every one without any recomto have such privileges attached to it? Somendation or introduction whatever. It

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is obvious, that while the Museum is conducted on its present liberal plan, while every visitor to its reading-room is allowed the most unrestricted use of its most valuable treasures-of unique Caxtons or of unique manuscripts-in a manner which, as far as I can gather, is both unexampled and unimitated in even the most liberally-conducted libraries of the Continent; it is obvious, that while this takes place, there must be some guarantee of the character of the visitors required, and indiscriminate admission of the public is out of the question—and yet indiscriminate admission is certainly one of the chief advantages that every public library ought, if possible, to afford the public. A question arises, perhaps, in a company, as to the date of some past event, or the dimensions of some building, which can easily be settled by reference to an old volume of the Gentleman's Magazine, or an article in Chambers's Cyclopædia; but without one of the parties happens to have access to the Museum, or some literary Institution which possesses the works that are wanted, there is no way of coming at the fact. Yet the chief use of a public library must surely be to afford to all the inhabitants of the city that contains it, the means of ascertaining any thing like this that may chance to be either useful or interesting. Under the present system, however, there is no opportunity for any person to take a glance at the commonest work in the Museum, who is not, at the same time, entitled to have out for inspection volumes more than worth their weight in gold. There are two methods of remedying this deficiency. The present reading-room may be retained under its present system of management, and an additional one provided in another part of the Museum open to all comers, who may be at liberty to call for any work included in a select catalogue, comprising all works of general use and reference, but none of great value and rarity, and none of the manuscripts. A catalogue thus formed would contain, perhaps, about 150,000 of the 220,000 volumes of the Museum, which would thus become a source of general instruction to the whole metropolis. This plan, however, which, as far as I am aware, is entirely new, might perhaps in its operation be found invidious. The only other way, then, of having a thoroughly public library would be to found a new one, and

Yet

this should, I think, entirely consist of duplicates of the British Museum. Indeed, it appears to me, that when there are more national libraries than one, the smaller ones ought all to consist merely of second copies of part of the great central establishment. Every thing unique that the Government or nation possesses ought, in reason, to be deposited in the great Institution; and of every thing that is not unique, at least one copy. this very simple plan appears to have been entirely overlooked at Paris, where they boast of having nine public libraries, and works are often wanting at the principal one which may be found in the others. The student has thus to make inquiries at nine different libraries (we cannot say to search the catalogues, as in such cases there are no catalogues to search, a circumstance which the wholesale admirers of Parisian Institutions should remember,) before he can be certain whether a book he wants is or is not out of his reach, and may perhaps find the grammar of a language in one library and the dictionary in a second.

Talking of catalogues, however, I must avail myself of S. S.'s obliging invitation, which your silence gives consent to, to make a few suggestions on the subject of that of the British Museum. One of the great wants of that establishment appears to me to be not only a classed catalogue of the books that are there, but of the books that ought to be there. At pre sent there is not the slightest doubt that many of the departments in that library are miserably ill-filled, and it will rather redound to the disgrace of the institution if the catalogue be printed without any method being taken to supply the wants. Were a list made of what these deficiencies are, a great number of the gaps might be filled up. For instance, the department of Danish literature has been almost entirely neglected. Holberg, as every body knows, is the Moliere of Denmark. By a singular infelicity, while there is almost a complete collection of his other works at the Museum, not one of his plays is to be found there. Suhm, the well-known Danish historian, wrote sixteen quartos on the annals of his country, and some short historical novels of great merit. Of these quartos the first two or three are at the Museum, and not the others,—the tales which appear to have produced a sort of "Waverley

THE BRITISH MUSEUM AND THE PROVINCIAL INSTITUTIONS.

sensation in Denmark are entirely missing. These authors are of the last century-the Danes who have written in the present, appear to have been entirely forgotten. Now if, before the catalogue of the Museum were published, a person acquainted with the Danish language and literature were sent to Copenhagen in the Royal Library of which, a copy of every work in that language is deposited, he might make out a complete list of such works as were worthy of a place in the Museum, and might, doubtless, at once purchase in that capital a copy of most of the numbers. A similar plan should by all means be adopted with regard to Sweden, Russia, and even Poland, though Prince Czartoryski's liberal present of books in the Polish language to the Museum a year or two ago, has filled up that branch better than most others. To wait for the slow dribbling in of books from these countries from sales in London would be ridiculous -the literary intercourse between us and them is shamefully feeble-and the only way of procuring a really good collection of their books, is by sending a literary expedition to Copenhagen, Stockholm, and St. Petersburgh. It may be asked whether this feebleness of literary intercourse is not a proof that the advantages to be derived from this expedition, would not be worth the trouble and expense of it? May it not rather be urged that this very fact, that Danish, Swedish, and Russian books are scarcely to be met with any where else in London, is an additional reason that they should be at the Museum. I would go further and say, that what really is not worthy of a place any where, is worthy of a place there, and ought to be found there. Old newspapers, for instance, are mere lumber in a private house, yet a large collection of old newspapers forms deservedly one of the boasts of the establishment. To return to the subject of the "literary expedition" it was observed by Sir Henry Ellis, in his late evidence before the Committee, that many of the books which were wanting in the Museum could not be bought at once from booksellers' shops, they must be waited for and picked up as opportunities occurred. This is true with regard to some, but I am convinced not with regard to the greater number. From the great deficiencies in foreign literature, and that in

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the very newest foreign literature, the yearly reports of the Swedish Academy, for instance, on the state of the sciences, which, however hard to procure in London, must, of course, be easy enough to procure on the spot of publication; it is not too much to say, that there must be at least 100,000 volumes on the shelves of booksellers in Europe which deserve a place in the Museum, and might, were money liberally granted, and proper spirit exerted, at once be transferred there. Before any new catalogue is printed, an extraordinary grant of Parliament for this purpose should be applied for, and a great effort made for, in fact, what reason is there unless the collection in some degree approaches to completeness, for printing the catalogue at all? It cannot serve as a sort of index to literature to assist in the formation of other libraries-it cannot form a trophy of the literary honour of the countryit would rather be a monument of disgrace. The mere purpose of informing a visitor to the Museum of what books he will find there, may be as well or better served by manuscript catalogues. The addition of about 100,000 volumes would really place it "in a range with the first libraries of continental Europe," and we might then feel some pride in its condition.

When the departments were once well filled with the standard literature of the past, it would be easy to keep on a level with the current literature of the day. The British Museum should regularly take in at least one literary journal from every country in Europe, containing reviews and announcements of new publications. It should be part of the duty of the librarians to peruse that, and to make a note of every work that seemed worthy of admission to the library; these might then be ordered at once from the places of publication, one of the objects of the literary expedition to the north having been, of course, to establish a connexion with one of the chief book. sellers of each capital. A constant supply of foreign literature would then be pouring in; and to mention the means of procuring that are so obvious, that it is matter of wonder the Museum should be so defective in this respect as it is. Every publisher is bound by Act of Parliament to send a copy of every book he publishes, unasked for, to the Museum;

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but, in point of fact, not more than about half of the English publications of late years will be found there, if so many. A few prosecutions of the publishers would soon produce a change in this; and as, however much they complain of the demands of other institutions, authors never complain of that of one copy to the Museum: this course might be adopted without objection, due notice häving been previously given in the newspapers of an intention to insist for the future on the full advantages of this valuable privilege.

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Still another method would be requisite. to ensure a good supply of a third branch of literature-the colonial. Such is the irregular apathy manifested towards this, that I once searched the catalogue of the Museum in vain for the New South Wales Magazine, which, though published at Sydney, is regularly transmitted to an agent in London. Of course it was useless to expect to find there the interesting periodical publications which have been lately edited in the English language in India by young Hindoos, who have caught from their foreign rulers the wish to excel in science and literature; and yet what works could be named more worthy of a place in the national establishment of England? An order from the Lords of the Treasury for the careful preservation of files of domestic newspapers to be transmitted to the Museum, was deservedly a theme for the commendation of the press about two years ago. A similar one to some of our numerous colonial officials to preserve and transmit us sets of colonial newspapers, magazines, and reviews, would do more than any thing else to throw a steady light on the history of the colonies -and as the publications, not periodical, are there so few, a copy of them might be ordered to be procured at the Government expense for the same purpose. This, I will venture to say, would, if carefully attended to, form in a few years one of the most valuable and interesting, as well as one of the most truly British parts of the Museum.

One other suggestion, and I have done for the present. It is this:-on the inside of the binding, or on the fly-leaf of every book in the Museum, without exception, should be recorded the date of the establishments becoming possessed of it, and the mode. The books presented

by Sir Joseph Banks invariably have his name and coat-of-arms pasted in, and this at once reminds every reader to whom he is indebted for the pleasure he is deriving. A sentiment of grateful res spect is thus excited, which is a deserved tribute to the public spirit of the donor. But with most of the other books this is not the case; and I almost felt as if I had defrauded some one of his just rights, when, after luxuriating for more than a year on the rich collection of books on Polish subjects added in 1833 to the Museum, I then first discovered that the whole had been presented by the till then unthought of Prince Czartoryski, who, driven from his own country to take refuge in ours, thus generously contributed to the literary glory of both. With donors, the insertion of the name is due from a principle of gratitude, and would be good policy also, as it would most probably induce them not to insist, as they sometimes do, on the embarrassing compliment of keeping their libraries separate in the midst of a larger one. Evenin cases where the book was not given, but bought at a sale, it would often be interesting to know to what person it be longed, and the addition of the dates would give an interesting view of the progress of the library. I do not know that this plan has ever been adopted any where, but it might, I think, be adopted with advantage every where.

I could still write on about the Museum

"until my fingers would no longer wag," but I must remember that I am writing a letter to a magazine, and not a separate pamphlet, like Mr. Edward Edwards. In the hope, therefore, that these suggestions may find as indulgent judges as my former ones, I take my leave, and remain,

May 4, 1836.

Yours, &c.

P.P.C.R.

ACCOUNT OF THE MANUFACTURE AND TEMPERING OF SWORD-BLADES IN THE PROVINCE OF CUTCH. FROM INFORMATION COMMUNICATED TO CAPT. BAGNOLD, R. M., BY HIS BROTHER, LIEUT.COLONEL BAGNOLD, LATE PRESIDENT OF THE REGENCY IN CUTCH.

These swords are celebrated throughout India for their peculiar strength and

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