It is
not merely intended for the holding of collections in the different
departments of physical science, but it contains also lecture- and
work-rooms, and all the accommodations required for in-door study. To
provide the mere shell of such a building, the University granted the
sum of L30,000. The design that was selected from those which were sent
for competition was of the Gothic style,--the work of Messrs. Deane and
Woodward; and this style was chosen because it was believed, that, "in
respect of capacity of adaptation to any given wants, Gothic has no
superior in any known form of Art,"--and that, this being so, "it was,
upon the whole, the best suited to the general architectural character
of Mediaeval Oxford." "The centre of the edifice, which is to contain
the collections, consists of a quadrangle," covered by a glass roof.
The court is surrounded by an open arcade of two stories. "This arcade
furnishes ready means of communication between the several departments
and their collections in the area." "Round the arcade is ranged upon
three sides the main block of the building,"--the fourth side being
left unoccupied by apartments, to afford means for future extension.
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