Welsh Journals

octagon, roofed by the lofty dome, together with lateral bays extending the full width of the South front, is one of the finest interiors of its class in these Islands. The western bay, com- pleted and in use since 1923, gave some idea of the beauty which the completed structure might be expected to reveal; but few expected that the vista from stairway to stairway would give so remarkable a sense of space and dignity. The Court Room and the Library on the second floor are finely proportioned oak-panelled rooms; the latter is fitted up as a reading-room for visitors and students. The primary purpose of the Museum has been described in an epigrammatic phrase now deservedly well known-" To teach the world about Wales, and the Welsh people about their own fatherland (I ddysgu'r byd am Gymru, a dysgu Cymry am Wlad eu tadau). This purpose it fulfils by collecting and preserving all kinds of material bearing on the Geology, Botany, Zoology, Archaeology and Art of Wales, and by exhibiting in its galleries in intelligible and attractive form the material thus gathered together. It is, for Wales, both the National Museum and the National Art Gallery. Scientific, artistic and historical material from England and the Continent, of value for comparative study, is also collected and is available for students and others in the reserve galleries. The Museum maintains an expert staff in each of its five Departments. This staff is always at the service of members of the public, research workers and students who are desirous of infor- mation, or who have information to give, either by letter or interview. Loan collections are circulated to local Museums in Wales, and public institutions free lectures are given to schools, societies and institutions throughout Wales, and, when required, demonstrations in the Museum to school parties. Since April of the present year the Museum, moreover, has been the National Concert Hall wherein, four times a week during the Season, the public can listen to the best music free of charge. This is provided by the National Orchestra of Wales under the auspices of the B.B.C. which broadcasts the Museum concerts. Thus the National Museum is now the home of all the arts, and it is probable that no single institution of its kind in Britain covers so wide a field. The Welsh people may well be proud of the fact that this great and far reaching experi- ment in higher education has been initiated in the Principality. It is hoped that visitors to the National Eisteddfod who have not previously been to Cardiff may take the opportunity of seeing the National Museum: and I propose briefly to indicate what the building contains. The five departments of the Museum are divided into two groups firstly, those concerned with the natural Sciences-the Departments of Geology, Botany and Zoology; and, secondly, those concerned with Man and his works-the Departments of Archaeology and Art. The visitor should first go to the Department of Geology to see the exhibits dealing with the structure of Welsh hills and valleys then to the Departments of Botany and Zoology to see the flora and fauna of Wales. The Archaeological Galleries should be seen before those devoted to Art; the former has much material of interest bearing on the life of Early Man in Wales, the latter is concerned with his later achievements, in technical skill allied to imaginative and intel- lectual power. Special attention may be directed to the cases dealing with the mineral wealth of Wales in the Department of Geology, to the wild plant table, the experimental plant table, and the exhibits illustrating plant communities, in the Department of Botany; to the group of Welsh mammals set amid natural surroundings in the Department of Zoology; to the cases illustrating the Roman occupation of Wales, and early Christian Celtic art, in the Department of Archaeology; and to the exhibits of Welsh earthenware and porcelain, and of paintings in oil and water-colour by Welsh artists, in the Department of Art. The arrangement of the Departments renders it easy for the visitor to follow the lines indicated in the preceding paragraph, a clear division being made between those representing Nature and those representing Man. The former are on the ground floor, the latter on the first floor; in future extensions of the building this distinction will be maintained. On entering the building the visitor should turn to the left for the Depart- ments of Geology and Zoology, and to the right for the Department of Botany. The western stairway leads to the Art collections, the eastern stairway to the Archaeological Gallery. The Department of Archaeology has also a tem- porary gallery, devoted to Welsh Bygones, on the north side of the Entrance Hall; but the collection exhibited here will be moved upstairs as soon as accommodation is provided in the eastern wing of the building, and the logical arrangement of the Departments will then be complete. This temporary gallery should prove of interest to Oversea visitors. In it are exhibited objects illustrating the life and work of Wales prior to the "Industrial Revolution;" special attention is directed to the Welsh Kitchen," reconstructed in a bay of the gallery. The Entrance Hall of the Museum and its balconies constitute an architectural unit of special character and dignity, differing from any other portion of the building constructed or in