The Council entrusted the Library Committee with the administration of the moneys granted for technical education, and as it took some years to lay the foundations of a technical system of education the funds accumulated, and we were able to pay off the debt on the libraries, about £8,000, and to build the extension to the museum, costing £80,000. The foundation stone was laid by me on the 1st July, 1898. Liverpool has always been rich in museum exhibits, and particularly in natural history and ethnography, and we have added recently to our collection by purchasing Canon Tristram's collection of birds. Out of this great storehouse our director, Doctor Forbes, has arranged the galleries so admirably, both on the scientific and popular sides, that they are the admiration of all naturalists, and Liverpool has every reason to be proud of her museums, which are admittedly the finest out of London. The galleries were opened by the late Earl of Derby on the 19th October, 1906. I was anxious to bring the libraries, and especially the museums, into closer touch with the University, and have always maintained that co-operation between these institutions is absolutely necessary, if we are to get the best out of each. THE WALKER ART GALLERY. The work in connection with the Walker Art Gallery has always been to me one of absorbing interest, and the annual visit in the spring to the London studios a very great treat. It is not merely that one has the opportunity of seeing the pictures of the year, but also to hear the views of the artists; men who lead lives of their own, in their art, and for their art, and whose views upon art matters open up new avenues for thought, and continually suggest new methods of action. Mr. Philip Rathbone was our first chairman of the Art Sub-Committee, and he did a great work in popularising our Autumn Exhibition in London. He was almost a bohemian by nature, and was quite at home in the artist world of London. He was a genius in many ways; he knew much about art; was a poet whose verses had a charm of their own; he was a delightful companion and inherited many of those remarkable traits of character which have distinguished the Rathbone family and have made them such benefactors of their native city. AMONG THE STUDIOS. We had some interesting experiences during our visits to the studios, and were often asked to criticise and suggest a name for a picture.