In the year ending 31st October, 1856, 79,934 volumes were issued to readers in the Library rooms, and 62,550 to borrowers from the lending Library, making a total of 142,484 volumes issued. The aggregate number of volumes issued since the opening of the Library in 1850 amounted to 476,825.

The total number of volumes in the Library was 18,555, of which 12,603 were in the reference department, and 5,952 in the lending Library.

The buildings containing the Library and Museum have now been twice extended, and the second extension has been taken advantage of by the local artists of Manchester to hold an exhibition of their works, previously to the new Rooms being used for the purposes for which they were designed.

The sum expended upon the maintenance of the Museum and Library in 1855-56 was £1,085 7s. 1d. of which £413 48. was extraordinary expenditure for furniture, cases, etc.; and it would be farther reduced by the rent of refreshment rooms, £50, making the nett ordinary expenditure £622 3s. 1d. The amounts expended on extensions of the building appear to have been provided by private subscriptions.

The Manchester Subscription Library, founded in 1765, is situated in Newall's-buildings, Market-street, and is the property of a body of subscribers. The number of volumes it now contains is about 30,000. Mr. Bamford is the Librarian.

The Manchester Circulating Library, for the promotion of general knowledge, was established in 1771, and is also situated in Newall's-buildings. It contains 13,000 volumes. E. R. McGaffie is the Librarian.

The Manchester New Subscription Library, founded about 1800, now contains about 30,000 volumes. At present it is

situated in Cross-street, but it is about to be removed to the Exchange, in which it was formerly placed. The Librarian is Mr. Andrew Paton.

The Portico, in Mosley-street, in which a news room and other advantages are combined with the Library, was erected in 1803, and is the property of the subscribers. The number of volumes in the Library is between 19,000 and 20,000, and it contains a large proportion of exceedingly valuable works. The files of newspapers preserved here are said to be the most perfect of any collection out of London. The expenditure, in 1855, amounted to

£1,092 178. 5d.

The Athenæum, in Bond-street, established in 1835, possesses a Library of about 15,000 volumes. It has also a news room and other advantages connected with it: such as a gymnasium, a coffee room, chess club, and some classes for the study of languages, etc. The building, which occupies 620 square yards of land, and cost £18,000, was erected in 1838, from designs by Sir Charles Barry, and is externally an elegant structure; but it scarcely possesses the internal conveniences desirable for the purpose to which it is applied. The average number of members in 1855 was 1,373, of whom 259 were life members; the subscription to the Institution is 24s. per annum, if paid in one sum, or 268. if paid quarterly. The expenditure in 1855 was £1,814 98. 5d.

The Manchester Mechanics' Institution possesses a Library of 14,000 volumes. It will be noticed more fully under the Educational Section.

The Manchester Foreign Library, situated in St. Ann'ssquare, possesses 13,238 volumes, of which 7,081 are German,

5,759 French, 298 Italian, and 100 are periodical works in various languages.

The Law Library, 4, Norfolk-street, has from 5,000 to 5,500 volumes; and the Medical Library, in the Royal Institution, Mosley-street, possesses about 2,500 volumes.

MUSEUMS.

THE Royal Museum in Peel Park has been already referred to. Though of so comparatively recent formation, it contains an extensive and valuable collection of objects of interest, amongst which a series of substances used in textile manufactures, in various stages of the processes through which they pass from the raw material to the finished work, may be specially mentioned. It possesses also an excellent collection of British Birds, and a few fine paintings have already been presented to it. During the year ending 31st of October, 1856, it was open 241 days, and was visited by 580,060 persons. In the Whit-week of 1856 alone, 54,560 persons passed through it.

The Museum of the Natural History Society, situated in Peter-street, now has combined with it the collection of the Geological Society, formerly placed in the Royal Insti tution. The Natural History Society had its origin in 1821. The ground floor is occupied principally by the geological collection, by some of the larger specimens of quadrupeds, and by a collection of curious articles and productions from foreign lands. In the upper rooms, there are very noble

collections of birds and insects, the British Birds being, it is said, almost completely represented, some very few of the rarer specimens only being wanting. Admission is obtained by payment of a small sum at the doors.

EXHIBITIONS.

AN Exhibition of the works of modern Artists is held annually in the rooms of the Royal Institution in Mosley-street: the time of opening has usually been in September, but it is proposed, in 1857, to open the Exhibition in the spring. Three galleries in the north wing of the building, the corridor leading to them, and the gallery round the entrance hall, are usually devoted to the works of art received. A charge is made for admission, except to proprietors of the Institution, and, for some weeks prior to the close of the Exhibition, a charge of threepence is made in the evenings.

The Royal Institution was established in 1823, and the building, which was designed by Sir Charles Barry, was erected at a cost, including land, of £30,000. The Institution possesses a number of fine paintings, including Etty's "Ulysses and the Syrens," which was presented by the late William Grant. A series of casts from the "Elgin Marbles, presented by George IV., are disposed around the entrance hall, which also contains the fine marble statue of Dalton, by Chantrey, and a few casts from other celebrated works.

Occasionally a picture is purchased by the Council of the Institution, and added to the Permanent Gallery, which

consists of the works of art possessed by the Institution, and which is usually opened for a few months in the year at a low rate of admission. There is also a small Lecture Theatre, in which valuable courses of lectures are annually given.

The School of Art occupies the south wing of the Institution, and has a separate entrance from Bond-street. It is open to visitors during the usual hours of instruction, and as it possesses a splendid collection of casts from the Antique, and is in other ways attractive to visitors, it should by no means be passed over. The number of pupils in the school, during the first quarter of 1857, was 267.