500 THE NATUllAL HISTORY REVIEW. 



Schlegel was placed in this post conjointly witli Professor Van der 

 Hoeven, but succeeded to the full command shortly afterwards on 

 the resignation of the latter. Professor Schlegel has been very 

 busily engaged in rearranging the treasures of this noble establish- 

 ment ever since his accession, and as regards the mammals and birds, 

 has already made important progress with his arduous undertaking. 

 The work, of which the title is given above, is intended to form a 

 sort of Catalogue raisonne of the collections under his charge. The 

 parts hitherto issued all relate to the series of birds, which is here 

 particularly full and complete, especially as regards the ornithology 

 of the Indian Archipelago, in which indeed (even though our na- 

 tional collection has been enriched by the labours of Mr. AVallace in 

 the same countries) it is unrivalled. The plan of the catalogue is 

 very good, consisting as it does of a series of monographic essays of 

 different groups in the form of a list of the different specimens of 

 each species, and giving the exact habitat of each individual speci- 

 men, together with the name of the collector. So that we see good 

 work, as regards Zoology, is likewise in progress at Leyden. 



As regards three other first-class Zoological Museums of Central 

 Europe, those of Berlin, Vienna, and Copenhagen, although we 

 have no special product of their establishments to introduce to our 

 readers' notice at the present moment, we are well aware that much 

 activity in the good cause is now being manifested in each of these 

 quarters. Dr. William Peters, Director of the Eoyal Zoological 

 Museum of the University of Berlin, is too well known as one of 

 the most active and most accomplished of living zoologists to require 

 anything to be said in his praise in these pages. His frequent 

 contributions to science in the Denkschriften and Monatsberichte of 

 the Prussian Academy of Sciences have been constantly referred to 

 in this Journal, and are well known to every naturalist. Dr. Peters 

 has in preparation at the present moment, we believe, a Hand-book 

 of the Mammalia, to the publication of which we look forward with 

 lively satisfaction. He is likewise engaged on a special illustrated 

 work on the Chiroptera, which, as access has been obtained to the 

 typical specimens of this difficult group in nearly all the museums 

 of Europe, promises to be a standard work of very great importance. 

 At the same time Dr. Peters is continually adding to our knowledge 

 of various other classes of Yertebrata and Invertebrata. As regards 

 the latter section of the animated kingdom, we may remark that Dr. 

 Peters has the assistance of lour other naturalists, all of well known 



