ON THE PROGRESS AND PRESENT STATE OF ORNITHOLOGY. 215 



these extraordinary productions of the Creator's hand will soon perish from 

 the face of the earth. 



8. Ortiithological Museums. 



The conservation of specimens for the purpose of reference is no less essen- 

 tial to the progress of zoology than the description of species in books, and 

 in the case of ornithology there certainly is no scarcity of collections, both 

 public and private, of illustrative specimens. Unfortunately, indeed, classifi- 

 cation, which is no less important, though far less easy, than accumulation, is 

 too often wanting or imperfect in such repositories, and their scientific utility 

 is thus very greatly diminished. I may congratulate the zoological world, 

 however, that this is no longer the condition of our great national collection, 

 the British Museum. Without adverting to the immense improvements intro- 

 duced in the last few years into all its other departments, I need only remark 

 that the ornithological gallery, from the beauty of its arrangements and the 

 extent of its collections, rivals, if not exceeds, the first museums of the conti- 

 nent. The scientific classification of the specimens is making great progress, 

 under the able superintendence of the two Messrs. Gray, and ornithologists 

 will soon possess in this collection a standard model which may be applied 

 with advantage to other museums. This latter object will be greatly aided 

 by the recent publication of catalogues, scientifically arranged by Mr. Gray, 

 of all the species contained in the museum. 



These catalogues, which are brought out in an accessible form, are calcu- 

 lated to be of great service to science. The classification and the scientific 

 nomenclature are based on sound principles, and are corrected by the latest 

 observations of zoologists, and every specimen is separately enumerated, with 

 its locality and the name of its donor, which is especially important in a col- 

 lection containing the type-specimens, from which original descriptions have 

 been made. The zoological catalogues of the British Museum will now be- 

 come standard works of reference, exhibiting both the riches and the deside- 

 rata of our national collection, and setting an example which we may hope to 

 see followed by the great public museums abroad. The catalogue of the 

 Mammalia was published last year; of the Birds, the Accipitres, Gallince, 

 Gralla and Anseres are already issued, and the other portions will speedily 

 follow. Dr. Hartlaub has been the first to profit by this spirited example, and 

 has published an excellent catalogue of birds in the Bremen Museum. 



Another collection, of almost equal value, is that of the Zoological Society, 

 now in progress of arrangement in a new building at the Society's Gardens. 

 Among private cabinets I may mention Mr. Gould's Australian collection 

 as one which possesses a peculiar scientific value. It consists of selected 

 specimens of the entire ornithology of Australia, the sexes, dates and locali- 

 ties of each being indicated, and as these specimens form the standard author- 

 ities for the accuracy of Mr. Gould's figures and descriptions, we may hope 

 that this unique collection may be preserved for reference in some permanent 

 repository. But I must abstain from further details, as it would be impossible 

 to give anything like a fair report on the individual merits of the numerous 

 ornithological museums now extant without a far more extended personal in- 

 spection of them than I have had opportunity to make. It may however 

 assist the student to be furnished with a list of all the more important col- 

 lections of birds which have come to my knowledge (though many others 

 doubtless exist) ; and I shall ventui'e on no other criticism of them than 

 merely to distinguish those general collections which are of first-rate im- 

 portance by Capitals, and those which are confined to British ornithology 

 by Italics. 



