British Museum.—This is a great national establishment, containing a vast and constantly-increasing collection of books, maps, drawings, prints, sculptures, antiquities, and natural curiosities. It occupies a most extensive suite of buildings in Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, commenced in 1823, and not even now finished. The sum spent on them is little less than £1,000,000. Sir Richard Smirke was the architect. The principal, or south front, 370 feet long, presents a range of 44 columns, the centre being a majestic portico, with sculptures in the pediment. Since its commencement, in 1755, the collection has been prodigiously increased by gifts, bequests, and purchases; and now it is, perhaps, the largest of the kind in the world. The library contains more than eight hundred thousand volumes, and is increasing enormously in extent every year. The Reading-Room is open only to persons who proceed thither for study, or for consulting authorities. A reading order is readily procured on written application, enclosing the recommendation of two respectable householders, to “the Principal Librarian.” It is open nearly 300 days in the year, and for an average of eight hours each day. No general inspection of this room by strangers is allowed, except by a written order from the secretary, which can, however, readily be obtained on three days in the week. The porters in the hall will direct to the secretary’s office; and strangers must be careful to observe the conditions on which the order is given. The present reading-room, opened in 1857, and built at a cost of £150,000, is one of the finest apartments in the world; it is circular, 140 feet in diameter, and open to a dome-roof 106 feet high, supported without pillars. This beautiful room, and the fireproof galleries for books which surround it, were planned by Mr. Panizzi, the late chief librarian.

The portions of the British Museum open to ordinary visitors consist of an extensive series of galleries and saloons on the ground and upper floors, each devoted to the exhibition of a distinct class of objects. Among others are—terracottas, Roman sculptures and sepulchral antiquities, Sir T. Lawrence’s collection of casts, British antiquities, ethnological specimens, Egyptian antiquities, several saloons containing the Elgin and Phigalian Marbles, Nineveh and Lycian sculptures, &c. The rooms containing objects in natural history and artificial curiosities are handsomely fitted up with glass-cases on the walls and tables. Days may be spent in examining this vast assemblage of objects; and to assist in the inspection, catalogues for the entire Museum may be purchased at the door at a cheap price. Reading Room, British Museum The following will convey an idea of the order in which the general contents of the Museum meet the eye. Outside the building, in unsightly glass sheds under the porticos and colonnades, are ancient Greek sculptures from Asia Minor, chiefly from the famous Mausoleum of Halicarnassus; they are temporarily so placed until room can be found for them elsewhere. On entering the hall or vestibule, and ascending the staircase, the galleries of natural history are reached—stuffed quadrupeds, including a gorilla purchased from M. Chaillu; stuffed birds; birds’ eggs; shells in immense variety and of surpassing beauty; minerals; and fossils. These occupy the eastern, northern, and part of the southern galleries. The western, and the rest of the southern galleries, are occupied by numerous antiquarian and ethnological collections—including Egyptian mummies and ornaments, Greek and Etruscan vases, Greek and Roman bronzes, ancient and mediÆval porcelain, ivory carvings, and specimens of the dresses, weapons, instruments, &c., of various nations. On the ground-floor, to the right of the hall, visitors are admitted to a room containing a curious collection of manuscripts, autographs, and early printed books; and to the King’s Library, a beautiful apartment, containing the books presented by George IV. This room also possesses a small but extremely choice display of Italian, German, and Flemish drawings and engravings; together with a few nielli, (black engravings on silver plates.) The west side of the ground-floor is occupied by the ancient sculptures—Egyptian, Greek, Assyrian, Lycian, Roman, &c.—A refreshment-room for visitors was opened in 1866, and is situated in the western basement.

The British Museum is open on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and the whole of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsun weeks. It is closed on the first week in January, May, and September, and on Christmas-day, Good-Friday, and Ash-Wednesday. The hour of opening is 10 o’clock; that of closing varies from 4 till 6 o’clock, according to the season of the year. During many years past there have been newspaper controversies and parliamentary debates touching the disposal of the rich contents of the Museum. Almost every part is filled to overflowing; but much diversity of opinion exists as to which portion, if any, shall be removed to another locality. Burlington House and the South Kensington Museum, each has its advocates. Immediate removal of part of the contents has been decided on.

Kensington Museum

South Kensington Museum.—This very interesting national establishment is situated at South Kensington, near the Cromwell and Exhibition Roads, on ground bought out of the profits of the Great Exhibition of 1851. The varied contents have been either presented to, or purchased by, the nation, with the exception of a few collections which have been lent for temporary periods. They consist of illustrations of manufactures and the useful arts; models of patented inventions; collections of raw produce, derived from the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms; a museum of educational appliances; casts from sculptures and architectural ornaments; objects of ornamental art, both mediÆval and modern; naval models, &c. Besides these, there are the fine collections of paintings presented to the nation by Mr. Sheepshanks, and other liberal donors; and a portion of the Vernon collection, the rest being at the National Gallery. Turner’s pictures, bequeathed to the nation in his will, were kept here for some years, but were removed to the National Gallery in 1861. There are, among the group of buildings, some devoted to the Government Department of Science and Art; but the Museum generally is, so far as concerns the public, distinct. The Gallery of British Art contains many hundred pictures, including choice specimens by Turner, Wilkie, Mulready, Landseer, Leslie, Hogarth, Wilson, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Lawrence, Constable, Loutherbourg, Callcott, Collins, Etty, Stanfield, Roberts, Uwins, Creswick, Maclise, Webster, Eastlake, Ward, Cooke, Cooper, Danby, Goodall, &c. The rooms containing these pictures, planned by Captain Fowke, are remarkable for the admirable mode of lighting, both by day and in the evening. On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays, the admission is free from 10 a.m. till 10 p.m.; on the other three days, called students’ days, 6d. is charged from 10 a.m. till 4, 5, or 6, according to the season. This is one of the very few free exhibitions open in the evening (thrice a-week) as well as the daytime.

Bethnal Green Museum.—This is really a branch of the South Kensington Museum, and is situated not far from Shoreditch Church. It is accessible by omnibus from most parts of the City and the West End, and is not far distant from Victoria Park. It was formally opened, in 1872, by the Prince and Princess of Wales. At the present, its great attraction is the picture gallery; but it promises to become as popular as any museum in London, especially as technical information will become an essential feature of its future existence. It is open under the same regulations as are observed at the South Kensington Museum.

Museum of Economic Geology.—This small but interesting establishment, having an entrance in Jermyn Street, is a national museum for the exhibition of all such articles as belong to the mineral kingdom. It was built from the designs of Mr. Pennethorne, and was opened in 1851. Though less extensive than the British and South Kensington Museums, it is of a very instructive character. Besides the mineral specimens, raw and manufactured, it contains models, sections, and diagrams, illustrative of mining, metallurgy, and various manufactures. It is open, free, every day, except Friday.Museum of the College of Surgeons.—This building, on the south side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, can be visited by strangers only through the introduction of members of the College. The Government, about seventy years ago, bought John Hunter’s Anatomical Museum, and presented it to the College. The contents of the museum are illustrative of the structure and functions of the human body, both in the healthy and the diseased state; they have been classified and arranged with great skill by Professor Owen.

United Service Museum.—This is situated in Whitehall Yard. Admission is obtained through the members of the United Service Institution. The contents of the museum consist of models, weapons, and implements interesting to military men. Here see the robe worn by Tippoo Sahib, when killed at Seringapatam, in 1799. Also observe Siborne’s extraordinary model of the battle of Waterloo; and notice the skeleton of the horse which Napoleon rode at that battle.

East India Museum.—Near the building last noticed, in Fife House, Whitehall, is deposited the collection known as the East India Museum, formerly deposited at the India House, in Leadenhall Street, and now belonging to the nation. It comprises a very curious assemblage of Oriental dresses, jewels, ornaments, furniture, musical instruments, models, paintings, tools, implements, idols, trinkets, &c. Among the rest is the barbaric toy known as Tippoo’s Tiger. It consists of a figure of a tiger trampling on a prostrate man, whom he is just about to seize with his teeth; the interior contains pipes and other mechanism, which, when wound up by a key, cause the figure of the man to utter cries of distress, and the tiger to roar. Such was one of the amusements of Tippoo Sahib! The museum is open free on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, from 10 till 4.

Royal Institution.—This building, in Albemarle Street, is devoted to the prosecution of science, by means of lectures, experiments, discussions, and a scientific library. It has been rendered famous by the brilliant labours of Davy and Faraday. Admission is only obtainable by membership, or by fees for courses of lectures.

Society of Arts.—This institution has existed in John Street, Adelphi, for a long series of years. Its object is the encouragement of arts, manufactures, agriculture, and commerce. Under the auspices of the late Prince Consort, it was mainly instrumental in bringing about the two great International Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862. The lecture-room contains six remarkable pictures by Barry, illustrative of ‘Human Culture.’ Every year there are free exhibitions of manufactures and new mechanical inventions.

Scientific Societies.—There are many other Scientific Societies which hold their meetings in London; but only a few of them possess buildings worthy of much attention, or contain collections that would interest a mere casual visitor. The Royal, the Astronomical, the Geological, the Chemical, and the LinnÆan Societies, the College of Physicians, the Institution of Civil Engineers, and others of like kind, are those to which we here refer. Many of these societies are at present accommodated with the use of apartments at the public expense, in Burlington House, Piccadilly.