Persons desirous of inspecting the Museum were to be admitted by printed tickets to be delivered by the porter upon their application in writing. No more than ten tickets were to be delivered out for each hour; five of the persons producing such tickets were to be attended by the Under-Librarian, and the other five by the Assistant Librarian in each Department. On the 30th of March, 1761, the hours of admission were changed from nine to eleven and one, and the number admitted at one time was increased to 15. On the 9th of February, 1774, a Committee of the House of Commons was appointed to consider a more convenient method of admitting persons into the Museum, and on the 11th of May the Committee suggested that on certain days visitors should pay for admission. This was adopted and the practice continued for 36 years afterwards, when, in 1810, Mr. Planta, then Principal Librarian, first took the step of having the Museum opened three times a week from ten to four o’clock, without tickets. The first “_Principal Librarian_” was Dr. Gowin Knight, a distinguished member of the College of Physicians. He was appointed in 1756, and remained at the Museum till 1772, when he was succeeded by Dr. Matthew Maty, who was born in 1718, near Utrecht, and was educated at the University of Leyden. In 1740 he published “Dissertatio philosophica inauguralis de Usu,” and, later on, a work on the effects of habit and custom upon the human frame. Coming to England in 1741, he practised as a physician, and soon became a man of reputation, but much of his spare time was occupied in literary pursuits, and at the death of Dr. Knight he was appointed _Principal Librarian_, which post, however, he held only for four years, as he died in 1776. Dr. Charles Morton, a native of Westmoreland, born in 1716, was his successor. He was the author of several important works, and contributed largely to the “Philosophical Transactions.” His death took place on the 10th of February, 1799. Joseph Planta next obtained the appointment, having been engaged in 1773 as an Assistant Librarian. A native of Switzerland,he was born on the 21st of February, 1744, and educated at Utrecht, besides having been a student at the University of Göttingen. From the date of his appointment as Principal Librarian (1799) it may be said that the affairs of the Museum began to improve; chiefly devoting himself to the improvement of the reading-room, in 1816 the number of visitors increased, and, as already stated, he suggested the vast improvement of throwing open the doors of the British Museum freely three times a week. He died in 1827. Sir Henry Ellis next occupied the position of Principal Librarian, having been a servant of the Trustees since 1800. He was born at Shoreditch, in London, 29th of November, 1777, but of him we shall have occasion to speak more fully hereafter.