ON SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS (DUBLIN).
xi A collection of Irish marbles which has been of great service in directing attention to the value of those rocks as decorative materials.
A collection of Irish and British specimens illustrative of the raw materials of plasters, stuccos, cements, &c.
Mining and metallurgical collections, inclusive of fuel.
A nearly complete collection of Irish coals, lignite and peat, col¬ lected in part by Dr.
Sullivan, and in part by the officers of the Geological Survey.
A collection of specimens of British coals used for the manufacture of gas in Ireland, and for the manufacture of iron in some of the chief seats of that manufacture in Great Britain, and at Liege, in Belgium.
A very good collection illustrative of lead and copper lodes, the products of the dressing and smelting of the ores.
This collection, which was formed principally by the Director of the Museum, the Professor of Chemistry, and the officers of the Geological Survey, is mainly Irish.
Some valuable specimens, illustrative of peculiarities of certain lead lodes, were contributed by Professor Warrington Smythe.
* *'
A collection of Irish iron ores, and samples of pig iron.
Specimens of British, Belgian, and Swedish iron ores.
Several series of specimens illustrative of the manufacture of pig and bar iron in the chief British centres of iron smelting, and in the district of Liege, in Belgium.
A very complete illustration of the manufacture of British blister and cast steel, and illustrations of Austrian natural steel Metallic manufactures.
Ceramic and glass manufactures.
Among these may be remarked :—
The nucleus of a historical collection of pottery and porcelain, illus¬ trative of the varieties of material, form, and decoration of fictile ware both ancient and modern.
A very complete collection of the materials of British earthenware, and illustrations of the products used and processes employed in its manufacture.
There are many other collections, such as those of woody fibres, barks for dyeing, hair and wool, chemical products, models, marine products, &c.
The palseontological and rock collections are in charge of the Local Director 1296.
and officers of the Geological Survey, by whom the arrangement and labelling of the specimens are exclusively conducted.
The mineral and technological collections are under the direction of Sir Robert Kane, and in the immediate 2108.
charge of the Curator of the Museum, Mr.
Gages, by whom the arrangement and labelling are done.
The most complete system of descriptive labelling perhaps ever carried out 1321.
in any museum was commenced for the technological collections before this system was recommended by Parliament, the general labels of a series often including, where necessary, summary descriptions of the processes.
The col¬ lection of labels belonging to each series of specimens where sufficiently com¬ plete, form, as it were, a short treatise on the manufacture which the specimens illustrate.
An analogous system of labelling has been adopted for the mineral collections by the Curator, Mr.
Gages, and for the rock collections by Mr.
Jukes ; the labels of the latter form a glossary of geological terms, attached to carefully selected illustrative specimens.
There is consequently complete harmony in the arrangements and labelling of aE the different collec¬ tions comprising the Museum.
The niineral collections consist chiefly of purchases, with the exception of the Portlock collection of Irish minerals, and a few donations.
The typical rock collection has been made chiefly by the Local Director of the Geological Survey.
The collection of igneous and metamorphlc rocks of Europe was purchased from the funds of the Museum for the purpose of comparing the foreign with the British nomenclature of those rocks.
The three sources of the large palaeonto-495.
b 2 logical
3222.
