170 Ldlcrs, Edirarts, Xuficcs^ S.-c. 



AdilH'iorin to the American Museum of Natural History. — 

 The report of the American Museum of Natural History 

 for 1899 informs us that the "Department of Vertebrate 

 Zo(>h)gy '^ has received 1108 mammals, 3139 birds, about 

 1200 reptiles, and 23 fishes. About one hundred birds 

 have ])ecn added to the Exhibition Collection, and also 

 several new bird-groups, including the ^' Large Brown- 

 Pelican" group. The "Local Collection of Birds," vhich 

 includes examples of the species found within fifty miles 

 of New York City, has been installed and forms one of 

 the most instructive features of the department. Besides 

 representatives of nearly all of the birds found in the 

 immediate district, there are special cases devoted to th'j 

 birds found there at particular seasons, the specimens being 

 changed from month to month in order to show just 

 vvliat birds are present at any given season of the year. 

 This arrangement proves very serviceable to local bird- 

 students, who thus have only a few specimens to pass in 

 review in their search for any particular species. Con- 

 siderable material has been gathered for additional bird- 

 groups, and several thousand skins have been received from 

 South America which furnish many desirable specimens for 

 mountiu"-. 



The Ruskin Plot. — In memory of his old friend John 

 Ruskin, Mr. Henry Willett, of Arnold House, Brighton, 

 has made an interesting and valuable gift to the Ashmolean 

 Natural History Society of Oxfordshire. It consists of a 

 piece of ground, about five acres in extent — woodland, 

 marsh, bog, and water,^ — which contains many local and rare 

 specimens of animal and vegetable life. It is Mr. Willctt's 

 Avish that the land should be known as " The Ruskin Plot," 

 and that it should be kept for all time in its natural condition. 

 In order to ensure this a Trust is being prepared, which 

 M'ill vest the plot in the following Trustees : — The Lord 

 Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, the Mayor of Oxford, the Yice- 

 Chancellor, the Radclift'e Librarian, the Hope Professor of 

 Zoology; the Sherardian Professor of Botany, and the donor. 



