11 



PURCHASES. 



b 



The most important purchase has "been that of the skeleton of an 

 adult Giraffe. This specimen possesses an additional interest to that 

 of other skeletons of this remarkable animal, inasmuch as it is the 

 subject of special remark in the question lately revived as to whether 

 the Giraffe has two horns or three, vide the Intellectual Observer for 

 August, and the Zoologist for October. 



Eleven specimens of Mammalia ; nine Birds, including a pair of 

 the Albert Lyre-bird ; 20 Eeptiles ; 25 fish from New Hebrides ; 270 

 selected Shells, including a Shell and Animal in spirit of the Pearly 

 Nautilus ; 23 Star-fish and Echini ; 13 species of Entozoa ; 23 

 Corals, &c ; two cases of Insects ; a few Crustacea and Fossils, and 

 six Wax Models of Sea Anemones and Nudibranchs by Mr. F. 

 Chapman, have been added to the collection during the year by 

 purchase. 



In addition to the above, a large series of Marine Specimens from 

 the River Mersey and the neighbouring sea has been obtained from 

 time to time by dredging and shore collecting, and by purchase. 

 The duplicates, which are numerous, are reserved for exchange with 

 other Museums and Collectors, British and Foreign, for the products 

 chiefly of their own immediate neighbourhood. By judicious 

 management, it is hoped, in course of time, valuable additions may be 

 made to our collections at a slight cost, and with advantage to all 

 parties concerned. 



EXCHANGES. 



Exchanges, chiefly of the character pointed out above, have been 

 already made with Professor Agassiz for his extensive Museum at 

 Cambridge, Massachusetts ; with Professor Hall, State Geologist of 

 New York ; with E. P. Whitfield, Esq., of Albany ; with Professor 

 Wyville Thomson, Queen's College, Belfast ; with Mr. H. Woodward, 

 Geological Department, British Museum ; with Professor Rolleston, 

 Oxford University Museum ; Avith the Leeds Museum ; with Mr. 

 Gosse, and others. 



Exchanges are also proposed, or in progress, with Messrs. Booth 

 and Gundlach, of Cuba ; Mr. William Stimpson, Cambridge, Massa- 

 chusetts ; Mr. Dyer, Ohio ; and with the Museums of the University 

 of Melbourne, and of the Hartley Institution, Southampton. 



