2 
Belfast, 27th May, 1874. 
“GenTLeMEN,—Since we last reported upon the re- 
arrangement of the collections in the Museum, that work 
has been actively carried on, 
‘A considerable portion of the time has been occupied 
in the mounting, labelling, and arranging of the specimens 
for the herbarium of British flowering plants. This 
work is now almost completed—each species being 
mounted on a separate sheet of paper, the species arranged 
consecutively (in accordance with Babington’s Manual 
of British Botany) in generic envelopes, with the name of 
the genus contained placed outside, and the genera ar- 
ranged, according to their orders, inthe drawers provided 
for that purpose. Inthe course of a few weeks we ex- 
pect to have a label attached to each drawer, 
indicating the order or orders contained in it, The 
adoption of this system will enable us to place 
at once, in their proper positions, specimens of those 
species which are at present unrepresented in the collec- 
tion, but which may be cbtained at a future time. Tho 
British Herbarium of flowering plants now contains some 
900 species, and a few of the commoner forms which have 
been omitted will probably be added during the present 
summer, 
“ We are about to commence the preparation of the 
herbarium of local mosses, i.¢., species occurring in the 
Province of Ulster : for this purpose Mr, 8.A.Stewart has 
presented specimens of nearly 200 species. For the her- 
barium of British mosses, Mr. John H. Davis has placed 
at our disposal his entire collection, containing many rare 
species, and we hope to obtain additional specimens from 
cther briologists. The mounting of these will be com- 
menced as soon as the local specimens are gummed on 
and arranged, and we hope to have a fair representation 
of the British moss flora. The collection of British birds 
in the Thompson room has not been interfered with, as 
the present arrangement is quite satisfactory; we would, 
howeyer, suggest the advisability of procuring a new series 
of printed labels for this collection, which would con- 
siderably improve its appearance, and render it more in 
keeping with the other collections, which have been re- 
arranged, 
“During the past year, wehave received from Mrs. 
Waller and Dr. R, Battersbya large number of recent 
