a name which originally signified a part of the palace of Alexandria, which took up at least one-fourth of the city. This quarter was called the museum, on account of its being set apart for the Muses and the study of the sciences. Here were lodged and entertained the men of learning; who were divided into many companies or colleges, according to the sciences of which they were the professors; and to Mushroom, each of these houses or colleges was allotted a handsome revenue. The foundation of this establishment is attributed to Ptolemy Philadelphus, who here placed his library. Hence the word museum is now applied to any place set apart as a repository for things that have an immediate relation to the arts.

The museum at Oxford, called the Ashmolean museum, is a noble pile of building, erected at the expense of the university, at the west end of the theatre, at which side it has a magnificent portal, sustained by pillars of the Corinthian order. The front, which is to the street, extends about 60 feet, where there is this inscription over the entrance in gilt characters, Museum Ashmoleanum, schola naturalis historiae, officina chimica. It was begun in 1679, and finished in 1683, when a valuable collection of curiosities was presented to the university by Elias Ashmole, Esq. which were the same day reposed there: several accessions have been since made to the museum; among which are hieroglyphics, and other Egyptian antiquities, an entire mummy, Roman antiquities, altars, medals, lamps, &c. and a variety of natural curiosities.

For an account of the British museum, see LONDON, No 146.