14 



"A very interesting collection of two hundred eggs from Madagascar has 

 been arranged in Cabinet No. 4. These are particularly valuable, ,as many of 

 them have become very rare during the last few years, and also because they 

 have been traced to their source and many interesting data supplied by the 

 collector, the Rev. Deans Cowan. Of these a separate catalogue has been 

 prepared, in which all the particulars have been incorporated. 



"The thirty-six loose cabinet drawers have been fitted into an oak frame, 

 and make a very satisfactory and handsome cabinet. A beginning has been 

 made in arranging the nests in this cabinet, and as there are six hundred or 

 more nests in the collection, many very beautiful, two such cabinets will be 

 required to accommodate them." 



Bristol Collections. 



The Committee have been for some time desirous of 

 developing in an adequate manner a collection of objects 

 specially connected with Bristol, including the antiquities 

 found in the City and neighbourhood, a complete series of 

 maps and plans of the City, drawings and engravings of 

 buildings now demolished, portraits of distinguished 

 Bristolians, specimens of the glass, porcelain and 

 pottery for which the City was famous in the past, 

 and other kindred objects. Up to the period when the 

 Institution was transferred to the City little if anything 

 had been done in this direction, and it virtually became 

 a new department. As the claims upon the Committee 

 in connection with the improvement of the building and 

 modernising the cases, became less pressing, they were 

 able to devote more attention to this matter. They 

 were, however, always face to face with the difficulty of 

 lack of room for exhibition purposes, and have only been 

 able to bring together a number of such objects of local 

 interest by displacing and storing others whose interest 

 was of a more general and remote character. The 

 Committee are however looking forward to the time 

 when, in the new building, they will be able to realise the 

 formation of a comprehensive collection, by appropriating 



