474 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



nests and eggs. It was in the dwelling of one of the prosperous fur- 

 merchants of that city, a gentleman of culture, who, without making 

 any pretensions to scientific attainments, had got together one of the 

 largest and richest local collections in oology on the Continent of 

 Europe. It contained between seven and eight thousand specimens, 

 well prepared, carefully arranged, and wonderfully rich in suites and 

 varying sets, of the eggs of European (chiefly Prussian) birds. While 

 I afterward saw other private collections that may contain the eggs 

 of more species, I saw none that so fully presented, in series of sets, 

 the eggs of the birds of any one locality. It was an interesting 

 peculiarity that this collection had been commenced by its owner's 

 grandfather, and three generations had made its increase the amuse- 

 ment and study of their leisure moments. Pains had been taken to 

 note the date of each separate acquisition, and such a collection is 

 thus rendered peculiarly interesting to the student of the local orni- 

 thology, on account of the light it cannot fail to throw upon the rela- 

 tive abundance and distribution of the birds of the region. Unfortu- 

 nately for the student of science, such collections as this are rare and 

 exceptional. 



In Berne, the capital of Switzerland, is the National Museum of 

 that republic. This contains an immense mass of materials, illustra- 

 tive of various departments, some of them in good preservation, but 

 others quite the reverse. A commendable effort had been begun to 

 exhibit all the species of the animal kingdom found in Switzerland, 

 but the space allotted is insufficient ; the show-cases are ill arranged, 

 and betray an evident want of funds sufficient to keep up to the high- 

 est standard what might have been made one of the finest collections 

 of its kind in the world. One contributor had given to the museum 

 what must have been in its day a very fine collection of the nests and 

 eggs of the birds of Switzerland, including sev^eral eggs of that now 

 nearly extinct bird, the lammergeyer of the Alps. Long exposure to 

 the light and dust had rendered the whole valueless. 



The geological and mineralogical collections have fared better, 

 and are really veiy fine. The pure crystals of black quartz are of 

 immense size, and those of clouded topaz are truly magnificent. One 

 cannot doubt the correctness of their claim to be the finest in the 

 world. Crowded into the small apartments of an irregular building, 

 though well worth a noble hall, devoted exclusively to their exhibi- 

 tion and preservation, are some of the most interesting historical col- 

 lections anywhere to be met with. Besides the relics of the ancient 

 Lake-dwellers, which seem almost to unite the two departments of 

 ethnology and geology, may be seen the remarkable tropljies captured 

 by the Swiss in their memorable war with the Burgundians, under 

 Duke Charles the Bold, four centuries ago last summer (in 1476), in- 

 cluding a rich altar-piece, and the tapestries and other costly trap- 

 pings of his regal tent, which are among the most interesting relics to 



