INTRODUCTION. XI. 



4th. British species. The nearer right-hand corner of 

 each drawer is occupied by representatives of the group 

 indigenous to Britain. Some groups have no British repre- 

 sentatives ; in others, e.g., Noctucs genuince, a selection from 

 the British species fills three-fourths of the drawer. Amongst 

 these, foreign specimens of rarities are admitted ; but in all 

 such cases the words *' exotic specimen " are appended to the 

 name on the label. 



5th. Earliest fossils. The nearer left-hand corner in 

 each drawer is assigned to a few fossils, showing the earliest 

 appearance of the group in the geological series. In some 

 instances, e. g., Hippurites, Rugosa, and the Trilohites, the 

 entire group is represented only by fossils ; in others, fossils 

 are absent. 



6th. The printed tablet. Between these two latter sec- 

 tions of each drawer is placed the printed tablet, about the 

 size of an octavo page. It exhibits an attempt to describe 

 some of the salient points in the life-history of the group. 

 Here, and throughout the series, some attention has been 

 given to ensure legibility by the use of moderately large 

 type, names and descriptions being of much less value when 

 they cannot be read easily. 



7th. Diagrams and other illustrations. The upright por- 

 tion of the table-case over each drawer is given to miscellane- 

 ous illustrations of the group. The series includes drawings, 

 plates, and photogi'aphs of structure and anatomy, economic 

 products, silk in various stages, marine and fresh-water 

 pearls, cameos, from the rough medallion cut from the shell 

 to the finished work, polished shells, and sections showing 

 the interior of shells, eggs and egg-cases, preserved larvae and 

 pupae, preparations in spirits, examples of mimicry, nests of 

 Hymenoptera, galls and their tenants ; timber and stone 

 pierced by molluscs, Crustacea, and insects ; malformations 



