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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



British Museum, and the Museum of Economic Geo- 

 logy, in Jermyn-street, supply all that is requisite for 

 reference in the mineral kingdom. The connecting link, 

 therefore, of information bearing upon trade products 

 furnished by the Animal Kingdom will now be easily ac- 

 cessible to the many. 



Placed under the able arrangement and general super- 

 intendence of Dr. Lyon Playfair, it cannot fail in time 

 to be of high national importance, whether viewed in a 

 purely educational point of view, or as subservient to 

 the equally important purpose of aiding manufacturers 

 and producers, desirous of investigating the value and 

 several commercial uses here and elsewhere of particular 

 products. 



One obstacle has hitherto stood in the way of forming 

 a good collection of animal substances, and that is the 

 perishable nature of most of the specimens. Unless 

 great care be taken, wools, furs, skins, leathers, woollen 

 goods, &c., will inevitably decay, or become deteriorated ; 

 and the replenishing of these adds largely to the expense 

 and to the trouble. 



The antiseptic property of glycerin, and other mo- 

 dern discoveries, and the scientific knowledge, judgment, 

 and experience of so eminent a chemist as Dr. Playfair, 

 will, however, do much towards remedying this defect. 



The public advantages of such a collection are self- 

 evident. Beginning with Wool and Hair, here may be 

 quietly examined and studied the quality and character of 

 the various home and foreign wools, in the fleece ; in the 

 lock, as viewed under the microscope ; scoured, combed, 

 spun, and dyed ; or completely manufactured into fabrics 

 separate or combined with other materials, such as with 

 silk and cotton. 



The beautiful qualities of alpaca, mohair, the wool of 

 the shawl goat, and other long silky fibres, and their appli- 

 cability to weaving purposes, are here displayed. Bristles 

 and hair of all kinds, and their applications in the arts 

 and manufactures, follow next ; and the implements, 

 machines, and appliances required in the various stages 

 of woollen manufactures, whether of broad-cloths or 

 blankets, carpets, or hosiery, dress materials for ladies, 

 and the various combinations which make up the bulk 

 of our woollen manufactures, and render it the second 

 in value and interest in a national and tradalpoint of view. 



The next of the textile manufactures dependent upon 

 the animal kingdom for the raw material is that of Silk, 

 and the collection is especially rich in silk moths, coons, 

 raw and thrown silk, and silken fabrics from all the 

 principal countries of the world. 



The food products furnished by animals will doubt- 

 less not be overlooked, for they are very important 

 in all their stages of preparation — fresh, salted, 

 or preserved in various ways. The description of 

 the several fisheries, and the products of the sea, will 

 alone open up a new and wide field for popular illustra- 

 tion, and one that has never yet been treated completely, 

 especially showing the useful modern applications of many 



formerly waste substances. The products of birds, wild 

 and domestic, for food ; their eggs, feathers, dung, Sec- 

 all afford opportunities for diffusing much valuable in- 

 formation, at present [little known or appreciated. In- 

 deed, the whole range of animal creation, from the 

 tiniest insect, such as the cochineal and lac coccus, the 

 bee and cantharides, up to the elephant and the whale> 

 which are hunted for the tusks or the oil yielded, may 

 be made subservient to the diffusion of an immense 

 amount of important knowledge. The several processes 

 of spinning and weaving, of tanning and dyeing, the 

 working up of shell, horn, and bone, and numerous 

 other manufacturing arts, can be shown, so as to educate 

 the mind, and diffuse that class of information which is 

 now so much sought after in all channels and among 

 every class of society. 



Those who will take the trouble to pay a visit to this 

 novel collection, far from finding it to be, as they might 

 suppose, "all barren," will, to their surprise, come 

 away delighted and gratified with a mass of new ideas, 

 and a stock of general information and reflective thought 

 of which they rould have formed no previous concep- 

 tion. 



Although yet in its infancy, the portion of the South 

 Kensington Museum devoted to the illustration of the 

 economical uses of Animal Products is, in our estimation, 

 by far the most important of the several collections 

 assembled there, viewed in its bearings upon the com- 

 merce of the country, and the amount of popular and 

 useful information it may be made to convey. We are 

 at present sadly deficient in details of any kind con- 

 nected with animal products. There is no special de- 

 scriptive work of reference on the subject, and it is dif- 

 ficult to find numerous papers and essays on some of 

 the matters which are spread over the periodical litera- 

 ture. 



We would throw out as a suggestion whether it would 

 not be desirable to form the nucleus of a library of re- 

 ference on cognate subjects in the animal courts, as is 

 being done in the educational department, and other 

 branches of the building. If even only a list of works of 

 reference could be made, and appended to the catalogue, 

 and contributions towards a library were sought from va- 

 rious authors and publishers, the large gap in our com- 

 mercial literature might be to some extent filled up, and 

 parties seeking information on sheep farming, on poultry 

 breeding, stock raising, leather manufactures, horn, bone, 

 and shell, the river and sea fisheries, the various trades 

 and manufactures, &c., connected with Animal Products, 

 would thus know what pamphlets, treatises, or works 

 had been published ; and if not to be seen in this Mu- 

 seum, where they could be obtained or consulted. 



The chemical conversion of refuse animal products 

 to useful purposes has, in Dr. Playfair's hands, been 

 made a most interesting and attractive series, showing 

 that nothing is wasted, but every material, however 

 seemingly insignificant, may be turned to profitable use. 



