PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 95 



lection of skulls of animals and human skulls, and the casts of skulls 

 of the different varieties of the human species, with the specimens of 

 parts of the osseous system of the larger mammalia already in the 

 museum, will soon be sufficient to illustrate the frame-work, or bony 

 structure, of vertebrated animals. The illustration of internal struc- 

 ture is a larger task, and demands larger resources ; but no one can 

 doubt that it may be effected, even by a provincial society, when it is 

 remembered that splendid museums of compai-ative anatomy, and even 

 of Natural History in all its branches, have occasionally been the 

 work of single individuals. 



Archjeology. — There is one portion of the collection, apparently 

 devoted to mere curiosities, but which in reality illustrates no less im- 

 portant a subject than the natural history of man ; a consideration 

 which gives value and utility to the specimens of the dress and manu- 

 factures, the weapons and instruments of chase, of the Islanders of 

 the South Sea, of which specimens several are deposited in the So- 

 cietj^'s museum. Much of the interest belonging to the archaeologi- 

 cal department arises from like considerations. The building mate- 

 rials, the costume, the money, the armorial devices of each age, are 

 so many illustrations of man's social progress, and illustrate, scarcely 

 less thaia purely literary remains, the exercise of his natural endow- 

 ments, in all varieties of time and circumstance. The head of a 

 Deer implanted in an Ash tree, the nest and eggs found in the cen- 

 tre of an Elm, and the portion of an Elm in which a fragment of 

 Sandstone is imbedded, are, to a certain extent, illustrative of botani- 

 cal physiology, as well as highly curious in themselves. Specimens 

 of dried plants were, some time ago, presented to the Society by Mr. 

 Leighton and Mr. J. Baly. Opportunities have not occurred of add- 

 ing to this department, but it is in contemplation to make a collection 

 of the plants of the county. Several books have been presented to 

 the Society, and it is expected that the library will soon be enriched 

 with more works relating to different branches of Natural History, 

 including useful manuals in each department. The council also stre- 

 nuously recommend the preparation of descriptive catalogues of each 

 ])ortion of the collection, as calculated very greatly to add to the ad- 

 vantages of the Society, as soon as this is found to be practicable. 



ASSOCIATION FOR EXPLORING CENTRAL AFRICA. 



We have just seen and hastily perused a Catalogue of the South 

 African Museum, notv e.vhibitmg in the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilh/, 

 for objects particularly entitled to the fostering patronage of natural- 

 ists, philanthropists, and a patriotic government. This museum con- 

 tains an extensive collection of new and rare quadrupeds, birds, and 

 reptiles from the interior of Southern Africa, with numerous speci- 

 mens of the arts and manufactures of the natives, and about four 



