A RUN THROUGH THE MUSEUMS OF EUROPE. 477 



good-sized and condensed volume has been devoted to its collec- 

 tions of birds only and from Brazil alone ; and when it is remembered 

 that this collection possesses specimens of 1,200 species exclusively 

 from that region, besides all the collections of the Novara Expedition, 

 and that these are but a portion of the immense whole, some idea may 

 be formed of its magnitude. The museum is also rich in its collections 

 of nests and eggs. Many of these ai'e uniques, and were procured by 

 the Novara and other exploring expeditions. These will remain for 

 the present unarranged, awaiting tljeir transfer to new quarters in an 

 immense building which the Government is now constructing, and 

 which in size and position promises to be one capable of doing ample 

 jusice to this noble collection. In charge of the ornithology is Dr. 

 A. von Pelzeln, a naturalist of high repute, and a most courteous and 

 obliging gentleman. At the time of our visit, the fishes and reptiles 

 were in charge of Curator Dr. Franz Steindachner, a pupil of Prof. 

 Agassiz, and for a while his assistant in the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology at Cambridge. He has more recently been promoted to the 

 post of director-in-chief, a position for which he is most admirably 

 qualified. 



The natural history museums of Southern Italy, from Naples to 

 Florence, are almost exclusively devoted to human and comparative 

 anatomy. In the lovely City of Flowers we find, in her Royal Muse- 

 um of Physical and Natural Science, an institution under the royal 

 patronage, and unique in its character. It is a univei'sity for teaching 

 natural history and the physical sciences. Here in the home of Gali- 

 leo, and where his memory is deservedly held in high honor, astron- 

 omy receives its full share of attention. Dr. Parlatore, an excellent 

 botanist and an eloquent lecturer, instructs in botany ; and the direc- 

 tor of the museum is Dr. Henry H. Giglioli, well known to scientific 

 men as the naturalist of the Magenta Exploring Expedition. This in- 

 stitution is fortunate in having at its head so accomplished a gentle- 

 man and so enthusiastic a naturalist, and under his judicious efforts 

 to advance its interests it bids fair to become in all its departments 

 well worthy of the Tuscan capital. Its anatomical collections are al- 

 ready deserving of the highest commendation. 



In the little city of Pisa, so attractive to strangers for its archi- 

 tectural peculiarities, is a museum well worthy of attention. To the 

 student of ornithology it is interesting as the home of Suvi, the pio- 

 neer ornithologist of Italy. Here is a local collection of birds made 

 by him of exemplary merit. The specimens are arranged in family 

 groups, in small, air-tight glass cases, in each of which is presented a 

 single species in all its varied forms, as modified by age, sex, or sea- 

 son. This includes the nest and eggs, the young chick, the summer 

 and the winter plumage, and all the variations of the sexes at once a 

 novel, instructive, and interesting feature. 



In Genoa the Civic Museum, under the patronage and general di- 



