i84 NATURAL SCIENCE. March. 



mauresque architecture, with large windows, and appears well 

 adapted for the purposes of exhibition. The offices of the staif are 

 in a separate building at the back. The Natural History collections, 

 with which we are chiefly concerned, are all on the ground floor. It 

 is not of course to be expected that they should contain any 

 specimens of exceptional interest, or be of any great size, since the 

 collections of more scientific importance are at either the University 

 or the Geological Survey office. A walk round the galleries is, 

 however, by no means without interest to the visitor. 



The Zoological specimens are arranged systematically and not 

 geographically ; still, as the bulk of the collection, at present, comes 

 from Japan, one gets a very good idea of the local fauna. The labels 

 are written in both Japanese and Roman characters, but beyond 

 giving the name and locality they make no attempt to convey infor- 

 mation; that is a development which will no doubt come in time. 

 There are, however, a number of old French models of the digestive, 

 respiratory, circulatory and nervous systems in various animals. 



As will have been anticipated by those who remember the first 

 part of this account, the arrangement of the Botanical gallery is far 

 superior to that of the Zoological. First are given a series of speci- 

 mens and models illustrating the different forms assumed by the 

 various organs of a plant : the kinds of roots, kinds of stems, aerial 

 and subterranean, the parts and arrangements of leaves. Then come 

 models for the illustration of the natural classification of plants, and 

 in the next case models to illustrate the Linnean classification. 

 Models of flowers and fruits follow. A selected series of dried plants 

 is exhibited: these are mounted in black frames, hung on screens, and 

 each is accompanied by a coloured plate and an explanation of its 

 position in the system. Thus one is presented with a synopsis of the 

 vegetable kingdom that is both attractive, interesting and readily 

 intelligible. Adjoining this admirable series are additional dried 

 specimens, of local interest, in further illustration thereof. The 

 genera of Japanese ferns are specially represented by a series of 

 dried specimens, with coloured plates and explanations. There are 

 also a collection of the insectivorous plants of Japan and some 

 models of mushrooms. The catalogue of specimens exhibited in this 

 gallery is by Mr. K. Saida, and if he is also responsible for its 

 arrangement, I should like to offer him my congratulations on having 

 interested one so ignorant of botany as I unfortunately am. 



The Geological rooms contain nothing of particular interest, 

 except, what seems a useful novelty, a case containing the instruments 

 and reagents employed in mineralogical and petrographical research. 

 The minerals are arranged in three distinct groups, the first illus- 

 trating their chemical composition according to the bases, the second 

 according to the acids, and the third the crystalline form. There is 

 a typical collection of rocks from different parts of the world, 

 numbering about 500 examples. The fossils exhibited are mostly 



