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panied with samples illustrating the mode of injury. Thus, cotton 
tobacco, corn and other cereal products, the cucurbitaceous plants and 
plants of the kitchen-garden, fruit-trees, shade and forest trees, are all 
represented by the various insect-pests preying upon them. Other 
cases illustrate the insect-pests of man and cattle, the foes of the house- 
hold and the larder, the silk-producing insects, and the gall-makers, 
while others show the principal insects that are beneficial to mankind, 
either by destroying noxious species or in the capacity of scaven- 
gers. The collection is not, by any means, complete, but forms the 
nucleus of a strictly ‘economic collection of entomology,” which to the 
farmer is of more practical value than any other method of arrange- 
ment that can be adopted. 
In addition to the above, a collection of three hundred colored plates 
op copper are shown, on which upward of seven thousand figures of 
the injurious and beneficial insects of the United States are illustrated. 
Having referred to the various lines cf production presented in the 
museum, and to the insects that prey upon it, we naturally come, in ac- 
cordance with the classification adopted, to the third branch of the 
collection, the cases containing birds,-intended to exhibit to the farmer 
such as are beneficial, as destroyers of obnoxious insects, as well as 
those which feed upon his fruits and grains more or less exclusively. 
The character of the birds is indicated in each case by the mark upon the 
perch or label, white indicating purely insectivorous birds, black those 
of wholly pernicious habits, and both colors the relative proportion of 
each element in those possessing more or less marked proclivities for a 
mixed diet of insects and fruits in their season. <A little box in close 
juxtaposition to each affords the means of judging of these character- 
istics by an exhibit of the dried contents of a full stomach—evidence 
very strong, if not conclusive, in each case. 
The cases containing poultry are intended to show to poultry-fanciers 
and farmers true type-specimens of the various breeds, mounted by the 
taxidermist so as to exhibit prominently the peculiarity of each breed 
as to size, form, and color, so that the farmer, when he buys a new 
Joreed, can ascertain whether it is true to name, and judge whether it is 
what he wants for his own locality or to improve his old stock, The 
collection includes all the principal varieties, both native and foreign. 
There is also a collection of pigeons, and about thirty specimens of 
ducks, representing the crosses between the common domesticated and 
the malard. 
BOTANICAL DIVISION. 
The collection of the botanist, George Vasey, is confined to forest-pro- 
ducts. It presents nearly a complete exhibit of the forest-trees of the 
United States. There are about four hundred species and varieties, 
each represented by sections of the trunk and corresponding botanical 
specimens of the foliage, flowers, and fruit. The sections are two feet 
long, in two pieces, one showing the outer surface of bark and the other 
sawed longitudinally and dressed to show the character of the grain and 
wood. Above each section, inclosed in a frame, is the corresponding 
botanical specimen of foliage, flowers, and fruit. This collection was 
obtained through twelve collectors in different parts of the Union. The 
. greatest care has been taken to have all the specimens authentic and 
true to name. It is a remarkable and striking display of the forest- 
wealth of our country. There are fifty species of sémi-tropical trees of 
Southern Florida, including five species new to our flora. There.are twen- 
ty-five species from Texas, and thirty species from Southern California 
